i am going to preface this one by saying that i truly do not want you to feel pressure in any way to do anything by way of my strong and possibly overly passionate feelings toward the following movie…
if for nothing else, this film should be nominated for cinematography. it is photographically stunning. if you could whip out your cute little nikon d80 every 10 seconds and capture color and movement the way this man does you would/could/should be a millionaire. period. at least 80 frames that are modern art museum worthy.
it isn’t the pictures alone though. it is almost sensory overload. they said, “figure out what will kill them, then back it off a little bit”. the first moment pulls you in with large african banging drums and flashes of movement. sort of like a bourne movie almost kind of but not quite. the music throughout is so fun. some of the best indian pop i’ve heard in a while.
the story, you reality-tv-ers will like: a young boy who gets on “who wants to be a millionaire” in india. only, he’s from the hood and shouldn’t know all the answers—but he does. the film takes you through his history and how he serendipitously knows the million-dollar answers because of his 2 dollar life. again—brilliant.
the director is american, making it an american film, but in most other ways it is a bollywood classic. the actors are all fresh indian faces (these two here are just beautiful humans…) that make the story feel more culturally rich and sound. if you have ever read a kalid hosseini book, it reads something like that.
which brings me to another point: the rating. you are thinking: oh, but that is rated R. sure it is. i would say that is mostly because it is culturally gritty. it tells of somewhat vulgar living circumstances and therefore presents images of a violent nature. not necessarily bloody, but i am sure the production staff knew that it was just adult in content and wanted to advertise to the older crowd. i would say i wouldn’t take your immature teens to it, but
in my humble, yet correct opinion: 5/5
owner or renter? tough question. i might need to own it, but you might not…
