Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a film that focuses on the life of Jamal Malik, who lived in the slums of Mumbai, India. The film opens with Jamal being tortured by police because they suspect him of cheating on the popular televised game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

The film is very non-linear jumping quickly between three different time frames of Jamal's life; his time on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, being tortured and questioned by police, and the chronology of his life. Each question asked on Who Wants to be a Millionaire takes the film to Jamal being questioned by the police and the experiences of his life where he learned the answer to each question.

Jamal and his older brother Salim were orphaned when their mother is killed by an angry mob that attacked Muslims washing clothes and bathing in a stream. They meet a young girl named Latika as they escape the mob. The threesome are taken in by a man named Maman not long afterward. They live in a compound along with other orphaned and handicapped children. We soon come to realize that Maman only takes care of the children so they will go out and beg in the streets and bring the money to him. Jamal and Salim escape just as Maman is going to blind Salim with a chemical so he will earn more begging, but Latika falls behind and she is recaptured.

After they escape Jamal and Salim turn to a life of thievery. They eventually make their way back to Mumbai and find Latika. She is still held by Maman. Salim shoots and kills Maman to free Latika. Salim, who is empowered by killing Maman, throws Jamal out of the room the three are staying in to presumably have sex with Latika despite Jamal obvious love for her.

We don't see the main characters again until they are several years older. Jamal works as an assistant at a Mumbai call center. He uses the center's technology to locate Salim, who is working for the gangster Javed. When they meet Jamal asks about Latika. Salim tells Jamal that she is long gone, but he doesn’t trust him and follows Jamal to Javed's home. Jamal finds Latika again after all these years only to find she is Javed's mistress. He asks her to leave with him but she is trapped. If she leaves, Javed will kill them both. Jamal tells Latika he will wait at the train station every day at 5 o'clock until she comes to be with him. Not long after Latika comes to the train station, but Salim and other henchmen of Javed grab her before she can leave with Jamal.

Near the end the film becomes linear. Jamal returns to Who Wants to be a Millionaire after the police determine his is not cheating. Salim and Latika see Jamal on the show. Salim has a change of heart and helps Latika escape. He is killed for doing so by Javed's men. Jamal ends up winning 20 million rupees. He returns to the train station where he and Latika ultimately meet.

Slumdog Millionaire is very interesting, both from a cinematic and chronological point of view. The film has a very distinct double plot-line; the story of Jamal's quest to succeed on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the story of Jamal's never ending passion for Latika. The film quickly jumps from one to another but is done so skillfully. The movies director, Danny Boyle, moves the film between different time frame of Jamal's life, using Who Wants to be a Millionaire as the thread that ties it all together.

The camera is almost always moving throughout the film. During the flight scenes early in the movie, the film is bouncy, presumably because the camera is being manually operated by someone chasing the action. Boyle occasionally changes things up by inserting still camera view of the action from odd angles or wide views.

Boyle uses wide-angled views to show the the Indian landscape, horrific poverty and vast garbage fields in the film. The director uses constantly changing angles throughout the movie, which seem to represent the chaotic nature of the character's lives. Much of the film's background is dark, which adds depth to the characters who are typically lit.

Boyle skillfully uses objects in the film to communicate subtle messages. After Jamal sees Latika in Javed's home, she asks him to leave because Javed would kill them both he suspected they had a past or have feeling for each other now. When Latika closes the door, she is shown from Jamal's subjective point of view. Her image is someone distorted through the door's glass which also has rod iron. This image is meant to communicate that Latika is locked out of Jamal's life and is distant, even though they are physically very close.

Boyle uses elevated photography, bright colors and a subjective point of view when Latika first comes to meet Jamal at the train station. We see Latika as Jamal sees her, literally from an elevated position in the train station and figuratively full of light and brightness. This is quickly altered when Salim and Javed's men are baring down on Latika. The action speeds up and the cinematography once again is bouncy from altering angles.

In the film's final scene, Jamal and Latika are shown with a bright lighting shining behind them. The light initially distracts your view of the couple. As Jamal and Latika pull close to kiss, they block the light bringing them into clear focus and the sole focal point of the shot.

The director and editors of Slumdog Millionaire do a very nice job instilling humanity and charm in Jamal's character. Viewers can't help rooting for him even when he is living a life of a thief. Humor is used frequently to soften his persona. Boyle also makes great use of Indian music, both quick-paced and slow, to enhance the undertones of scenes throughout the movie.