2008 - Dir: Danny Boyle
Shown at The FeckenOdeon on 31st October, 2009
There are scenes in this film which may shock you. There are things that may make you want to cover your eyes. There are acts, the very thought of which may make you want to flee into the fresh Feckenham air. Please don’t. You are watching the truth. This is India. Warts and all... and it’s like that NOW.
That such a gritty portrayal of poverty, cruelty and avarice should have been made by a major Hollywood studio is strange enough. That it should be a rip-roaring success with modern filmgoers accustomed to a diet of glitzy blockbusters is almost as much a paradox as India itself. Like the country, Slumdog displays as much of the glamour and beauty of India as it does the squalor and violence. You may say that this isn’t the most morally pure of films - the "happy ending" involves forgetting the quagmire you came from and living at the top of the heap at the expense of those at the bottom.... India is like that and who are we, given that our collonising forebears carry some responsibility for the current state of India, to judge?
The film is glossily made, yet cost a fraction of the usual Hollywood budget. It features no known stars, yet grossed over $360 million and won no less than 8 Academy Awards... more paradoxes!
Mercedes-Benz asked that its logos be removed in scenes taking place in the slums. The company did not want to be associated with the poverty-stricken area, fearing that that might taint its image. Similarly, the "Thums Up" branding had to be removed from drinks bottles on the request of the manufacturers who did not want to be associated with the poverty depicted in the film.
The pile of "unpleasantness" that the young Jamal jumps into (don’t try this at home!) was made from a combination of peanut butter and chocolate.
The song "Darshan Do Ghanshyam" which is used by the "selecters" to select and train child beggars was composed and sung by Surdas, a legendary medieval Indian singer who was blind. The significance and poignancy of this will be clearer once you have seen the film.
Lead actor Dev Patel is also a British martial arts champion and hold a 1st Dan Black Belt and several international awards.
Warner Brothers got cold feet in the late stages of production and came close to sending the film straight to DVD (and certain oblivion).
