Movie Review: 'Slumdog Millionaire' takes artful look at India

Danny Boyle seems to have a thing about his characters diving into excrement. If you saw "Trainspotting," you no doubt remember "the filthiest toilet in all of Scotland." Ewan McGregor's character happily dives into it to retrieve a morphine suppository that had escaped from his grasp.

Boyle goes beyond even that in an early scene in his brilliant (in concept and execution as well as the colors onscreen) film "Slumdog Millionaire." Young Jamal, trapped inside a public outhouse that sits on stilts, escapes the only way he can - straight down into the mire - to get an autograph from India's most beloved movie star.

"Slumdog Millionaire" has been compared to the works of Charles Dickens, reset in 21st century India. Director of Photography Anthony Dod Mantle captures the landscape of abject poverty and squalor in the slums, but the screen is always dotted with the brilliant colors of India. The dyes used to color Indian clothing are so rich and vibrant, they draw attention away from the mud, sewage and tin roofs of the shanty towns spread throughout Mumbai.

We're introduced to the 19-year-old Jamal, a streetwise kid who grew up by his wits but with no formal education. He's working as a chai wallah - a tea server - at one of the customer-service places we in the U.S. are all familiar with.

Jamal landed a contestant spot on the Hindi version of "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" and has done quite well on his first appearance. So well in fact that the show's smarmy host (he's also the executive producer) thinks he must be cheating. So as Jamal is being escorted out after the first night's episode, he is thrust into a van and taken to an interrogation room. This is where we first meet him, as he's being slapped around first by one officer and then another. They dunk his head in water and eventually hang him by his wrists, hook up a car battery to his feet and give him a shock. They want to know who is helping him cheat and how it's being done. No slumdog could be so smart.

There's really nothing to tell in the way of underhandedness, but there is a story.

Boyle and writer Simon Beaufoy tell the story in a double-flashback fashion with an unusual twist. From the interrogation room we flash back a few hours, as Jamal gets questions from Mr. Smarmy Show Host. Each question triggers a memory, and we flash back with Jamal to his childhood and come to understand how and why he knows the answers to these questions.

The probability of something like this happening in real life is small, but Doyle is fashioning a fable here and doing quite a fine job.

We're introduced to two characters who will remain intertwined with Jamal for the rest of his life. The first is his brother, Salim, in the Dickensian sense an artful dodger and obviously tougher than Jamal, with the potential to be ruthless. Secondly is the beautiful Latika, who steals Jamal's heart at first sight.

Each question brings back a different memory, some of which are utterly frightening and full of despair. Jamal remembers the death of his mother in an anti-Muslim attack in the slums. He remembers first meeting Latika and her joining as the "third Musketeer" with Salim and himself. Jamal and Salim set themselves up as "tour guides" at the Taj Mahal, with a decent used-shoe business on the side.

In another episode, the threesome is befriended by a man they think must be a saint, but who turns out to be something very different. Jamal and Salim escape intact, but Latika can't keep up. Through another flashback we learn she remains with the man for a number of years.

All the while, the tale comes back to the game show. The host reveals himself to be even more than merely smarmy. Meanwhile, the police, after hearing Jamal's stories of how he has gained enough knowledge to get within one question of the 20 million rupee prize, soften their approach to Jamal.

Eventually he's allowed to return for the second night's show and a chance at the final question.

While there are scenes that border on horrific, and the sheer poverty we see in one of the world's largest cities is troubling to witness, "Slumdog Millionaire" is ultimately an uplifting - if in an offbeat way - film. It's not the BBC/PBS version of India with "A Passage to India" or "The Jewel in the Crown," nor to the other extreme ala "Salaam Bombay!"

Boyle has fashioned a highly original tale and tells it artfully, providing a lot of food for thought and reflection. Ultimately I found it a very satisfying and beautiful piece of work. There is already a great deal of Oscar buzz for "Slumdog Millionaire" as a film and Boyle as a director. Cinematographer Mantle deserves a nod, as well.

Don't miss the ending credits, which feature a song and dance routine straight out of Bollywood, as the Indian film industry is called. For the record, Bollywood films sold 3.6 billion tickets in 2006.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.