Slumdog Millionaire – A Personal Review: For two glorious hours the other night Steve and I sat in Brighton’s darkened Cineworld and were transported to the slums of India watching Slumdog Millionaire.
From the first opening credits to the end our senses were assaulted by the most amazing cinematography, thrilling plot, dense colour, transformational music, scary twists, feelings of hope, despair, lots of humour and the most brilliant acting.
We had our interest piqued by our business partner Judith Morgan, no mean amateur film critic, who sang it’s praises on her blog, then I watched in amazement as my Twitter alert flagged up hundreds of people talking about the film (I have an alert set to monitor the key phrase “millionaire” among others).
We came out speechless with admiration for Danny Boyle (loved the gritty Trainspotting too which introduced us to the rather gorgeous Ewan McGregor for the first time) and today I’m on the hunt for the film score – which combines deep house dance music with indian themes and a sweeping scope of classical influence which defies just description.
18-year-old Dev Patel, previously one of the stars of the brilliant “Skins” which started again on tv last night, has been catapulted to stardom along with his very beautiful co-star, indian model Freida Pinto. As the Guardian reports:
“As Boyle struggled to find an actor among the buff, beefy Bollywood wannabes who attended the India castings to accurately portray a kid born into abject poverty, it was eventually his daughter, an avid Skins fan, who suggested Patel. His only acting experience to date was as the two-dimensional character Anwar, a teenage Muslim whose obsessive desire to get laid played out a comedic dichotomy with his religious guilt, the denouement of which was losing his virginity to a married Russian while on a school trip; hardly the stuff that dreams – Bollywood or otherwise – are made of. But it was the perfect fit: unlike Bollywood’s finest, Patel looked like he’d never been anywhere near a free weight or a protein shake in his life.
“Yeah,” he laughs, “I guess I’m lucky he was looking for someone who looks like they grew up in a slum, someone lanky and skinny and not particularly handsome!” ”
As it’s announced that Slumdog Millionaire has picked up TEN Oscar nominations, here’s what Yahoo News had to say:
“MUMBAI, India – India’s film industry basked Friday in the glow of 10 Oscar nominations for “Slumdog Millionaire” as the rags-to-riches story finally hit theaters to rave reviews and predictions of blockbuster sales.
The film, set amid the fetid alleys of Mumbai’s notorious slums, continued its surprise run of success since it swept four categories at the Golden Globes, including the prize for best drama.
The movie got the second highest number of Oscar nominations Thursday, including best director for Danny Boyle, best picture and — generating the most buzz in India — three music nominations for Indian composer A.R. Rahman.
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