WHAT'S THE HYPE ABOUT???

I have heard very little about the movie. I just heard it's great and all!

Can someone tell me what's about the movie, what's it about and is it really worth the money?

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slumdog millionaire is about a young man (jamal) from the slums of mumbai who wins top money on the indian version of who wants to be a millionaire. as the films begins, he is one question away from the top prize and he is being interrogated by police who believe he has cheated (they don't believe a slumdog could really know the answers). the rest of the film goes on to explain, through flashbacks, how he learnt the answers to each of the questions.

don't believe the idiot critic that described the film as "the feel-good movie of the decade". it's not. jamal's story, which is also the story of his older brother salim and his childhood love latika, is (until the end) almost unrelentingly depressing. however, that is not a criticism. it is the film's brutal portrayal of life in india's slums that is it's strong point - far more engaging than the (in my opinion horribly cheesy) message about destiny.

the cinematography is stunning, the music is fantastic, the performances are strong (for me, the three children who played the youngest versions of jamal, salim and latika were the standouts - all honest, natural and endearing performers), and aspects of it will haunt you long after the credits roll (and do stay for the credits - the bollywood dance sequence that accompanies them is rather fun).

i have a few criticisms - i don't buy all the stuff about destiny, so the fact that he had not only learnt the answers to all of the questions but also learnt them in the order he was asked them seemed to me to be a rather too convenient plot device. also, i didn't totally believe in jamal and latika's relationship, although it would have been very easy to resolve that by doing a little more to set the relationship up in the early scenes.

i feel i should warn you that there are scenes involving torture and violence, and one particularly disturbing scene involving the blinding of a small boy. however, none of the scenes are particularly graphic, and certainly not gratuitously so - the idea of what is happening is worse than what you are seeing.

overall, i would say that for me it didn't quite live up to the hype. nonetheless, it is certainly a film worth watching.

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

^ i don't think the film is suffering from that. at least, i'm the only person i know who thinks it doesn't quite live up to the hype.

i don't believe the hype changed my perception of the the film though - i don't normally agree with the majority when it comes to films, so i don't let other people's opinions influence my expectations. i didn't expect any more of slumdog just because everyone else said it was great, so it wasn't a case of my hopes being disappointed. the things that annoyed me about the film would have annoyed me even if the film hadn't garnered so much praise, and my opinion of the film would have been the same. when i said it didn't live up to the hype, i simply meant that i don't think it's as good as everyone else thinks it is - it was a way of sort of measuring my response and tempering the praise.

i do still think it deserves its awards though - the cinemotagraphy and music are fantastic, the screenplay handles the complicated structure well, danny boyle's direction produces some fine performances from the young cast, and it is a very good film. i'm just picky.

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

Yay, for ethelfleda and Gimli! Thanks for your insightful reviews. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to the movie before it was nominated for the Oscar. Afterwards, I haven't looked for more information about it either. First of all I thought it was too violent and graphic for me to watch anyway, then some reviews had me believing it was more like a Bollywood movie and now I'm inclined to think it's a curious mix of both!

ethelfleda Thanks for the warning about the violence. I hope it's not too graphic... I'm glad that you say that most of it isn't shown, but heaven knows my own twisted imagination is worse than anything. That scene with the little boy... is it bad? Gimli will know what a chicken I am... a pity you haven't seen the movie yet...

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

There is a 'Parents' guide to...' on IMDB!!! I never knew that... but then again I'm not a parent!!
Okay, from what I read about the violence, it seemed like something I can watch without getting all traumatised! And I really want to see it... I mean at first I was all over Benjamin Button, but I think I would enjoy this movie more, after all. But we'll see!

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^ By me and my SS *squiggle hugs*

Very true! Sensitive people like me have to be extra careful! I tell you I live in ubiquitous fear of traumatising blood and gore on film!
But I should have know about it, IMDB is like my Bible!!

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i'm pretty squeamish, but slumdog wasn't more than i could handle. as i said, you don't actually see too much. if you're not sure though, wait til you can rent it - that way if it's too bad, you can just stop it.

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Thanks, but... watching a movie on DVD really kills it, honestly. I've got to sit through it if I go see it.. after all I still have the option of closing my eyes or hiding behind my coat!

By the way - and it may be a silly question - how much Bollywood is in the movie? I understand it's not a Bollywood film as such though they have some musical scenes?

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Ah I really want to see it. >_< Everyone I know who's looked at it keep bombarding me to and I trust their judgement because they have the same taste in movies as me. Plus, it's in Hindi (I think...it's what my friend told me) so that's a bonus. I love Indian films and the fact that Dev Patel is in it too. XD

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^ part of it's in hindi (at least, i think it's hindi) with subtitles, but the majority is in english.

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Ah yes I finally saw it.

First of all, DEV PATEL IS AWESOME.

Secondly, it was a very good movie. I completely understand why it wasn't as depressing as it really is in real life, no-one can survive through a movie that would just keep on pulling at your heartstrings, seriously. And it kept up the upbeat tempo that Bollywood movies usually have so I'm quite pleased about it. I really loved the soundtrack as well, I was totally itching to just get up and dance. And then, it was still emotional...I found myself screaming when they were torturing Jamal.

I didn't cry as I expected but it still invoked a lot of strong feelings within me. Throughout the whole movie though, I kept snickering silently or just bursting out into full fledged laughter. The cast was quite amazing, they all did really good jobs and all in all, I think it deserved every minute of praise it got.

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VITAM AETERNO; an original creature roleplay

I saw it, finally! And I really liked it. Those kids were cute and though the topic was dead serious the movie suceeded in keeping a light tone so it actually was very worth seeing.

I thought it would have more of traditional Bollywood dance and mucis but I loved the musical scenes. The Boys on the train with M.I.A - Paper planes is great and the performance at the end credits!! I want more!!!

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