Slumdog Millionaire

Recent winner of multiple awards at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire did anything but disappoint. 

Set in Mumbai, the film follows the story of Jamal, a young man from the slums who manages to make his way onto Who Wants to be a Millionaire?.  The popular television show provides the structure for an interesting plot development that fluctuates between present, immediate past, and distant past. 

The stories are intertwined in such a way that the audience becomes increasingly aware that the events from the past are intricately part of what's happening now.  The seemingly random chain of events was not an accident, but rather an elaborate development that fulfills young Jamal's destiny. 

While elements of the film are undoubtedly foreign, the story is crafted in such a way that it's nigh impossible to not develop a connection with the characters as we're pulled through a raw and real display of poverty in India.  Just when the uneasiness seems too much to bear, we're ultimately comforted through a traditional, Americanized-Hollywood ending that was surprisingly sweet following such a nontraditional setup. 

Boyle's visual style was intimate and innovative--his almost exclusive use of close-ups raised the stakes in terms of emotional investment, generating sympathy and compassion and keeping us involved till the end (even through the Horatio Alger-inspired ending).  Every moment revealed new angles, colors, and visual delights that helped make Slumdog a true work of art.

four.