Having recently seen Slumdog Millionaire, I can safely say my love for film has been rekindled. It was released on the 9th January this year in the UK, and starting out at the #2 box office spot, it was propelled into first by its second week in cinema, taking an extra 47% in income. This broke Billy Elliot's record of 13%. Anyway, when I first heard of the film I did the unthinkable and judged it on its' poster. A slum dwelling boy rising from rags to riches through a game show did not seem a new or exciting premise for a film. However, a slew of BAFTA nominations and Globe nominations convinced me it was a film worth seeing. Walking into the cinema, I tried predicting the film's plot. Originally I thought it would be the simple tale of a boy's tough life in a slums, who takes a chance at Who Wants to be a Millionaire and ultimately wins the money and the love of his life. From this, my expectations weren't especially high. The 15 certificate kept me questioning its content (though after the film, its content kept me questioning its certificate. It wasn't at all that bad and seemed more like a 12 to me, despite its somewhat mature themes). The opening interrogation/torture scenes made me realise this was no fairy-tale film, and watching on I saw how serious and thought-provoking it could be. After a while, the film's structure became apparent. One story ran through the gameshow the main character took, and another through how he came to know each answer during his past life. Very effective, and a nice change to most linear films. As the film approached its climax, I was astounded at the human message it sends out. The trials and tribulations of the children really pack a punch, you'll often feel a surge of empathy and sympathy for them. Towards the end, you'll be reminded that in fact it's a bit of a romance movie. The romantic scenes populate the film so sparsely you'll forget about it till the end, until you get a feelgood sandwhich with a nice dollop of romance mayo (that's one hell of an analogy, don't you think?). Overall, the film can be gritty and saddening, but at the same time packed to the brim full of glimmers of humour and happiness. Reccomended. It's certainly rare to see a British film of such greatness.
To avoid making a new topic I thought I'd use this one. I just rented out a couple of movies, one of which was Children of Men. After watching it, I'm surprised it didn't win any awards. It's extremely underrated, and very deservant of 5 stars. It's a bleak masterpiece with a deep storyline and a powerful message. Fantastic.