I really don't have more to say on this film that hasn't been said a bajillion times elsewhere.
I wonder if Danny Boyle goes through life looking for subject matter that fits well with his aesthetic style? Druggies, apocalyptic sci fi, India... Fast paced, colorful, gritty,... Mumbai! Totally fits.
I also like that he is a filmmaker who isn't trapped by his own culture. We're always told to "write what you know" and that translates into only telling stories about people like us in ethnicity, culture, gender, socio-economic background. But that only propagates the dominant and privileged culture. If only white men have access to the expensive and narrow supplies of filmmaking and they tell stories about white men, we'll just continue the structure of privilege. I want to tell the stories of those different from me, but of course that means I'll probably do a kind of crummy job, because I speak from my limited perspective. But it's what I find interesting and we need to know more about others. I'm still working on this theory/methodology. We'll see where it goes.
So yeah, go see Slumdog Millionaire, and not just because it won the Golden Globe, but because it's a great story about childhood in difficult circumstances, horrific circumstances, and it's about how to live nobly as an adult through difficult circumstances. We can use and abuse each other or we can embrace each other and rise up together. And it's beautiful and ends with a Bali-wood dance which made me so ridiculously happy. I hope it does well in India, where it opens this coming week.
And the soundtrack includes songs by M.I.A. How perfectly formulated for one another: MIA & Danny Boyle!
