Whether the film was worthy of the multiple Oscar accolades, I’ll leave to others to judge. It certainly was one of the more vibrant films of the year and I have to say I did enjoy watching it. Stylistically it was clearly different from the traditional Hollywood film. However I fail to see how it was a ‘feel good film’ and watching it reminded me starkly of Salam Bombay! Certainly I can’t be the only one old enough to remember this truly gritty representation of life, death and violence in the shanty towns in what is now called Mumbai. And this film didn’t have a happy Bollywood dance scene at the end and love did not conquer all – in fact it was as real and tragic as you can get.
Many of my Indian friends can’t understand what the western obsession is with Slumdog. It’s not that they have a knee jerk reaction to the title (How dare they call us dogs!). It’s not even indignation that a foreigner has been successful in profiting from a portrayal of India that Bollywood has already covered in many, and they would argue, better films. Some have even called it poverty porn and classic explotation.
At its heart, I believe that there is a real disquiet that the images of the underclass amongst the increasingly affluent middle class are an embarrassment for India. Despite the skyscrapers, high tech industries, high profile billionaires, increasing economic growth rates and confidence on a world stage, endemic poverty is still as much of a reality now as it has ever been. Indians seem hyper-sensitive (guilty) to the portrayal of their country so starkly but a society so stratified by class, caste and religion is bound to be characterised by extremes of excess and poverty.
Slumdog is a reflection of a primal survival culture, racked by violence, exploitation, destitution and the only way out is through divine intervention. It is anything but a joyous film but still worth seeing. But Salam Bombay was better.
24 February 2009 at 14:29
my comment was wiped- it’s always the long thoroughly thought out stuff that get lost.
Anyway I was saying that I felt the poverty slum aspect of the film was not necessarily shown as a terrible state- it was a carefree life for the boys within a protective community until their mother dies and their fragile security vanishes. I also think that the story of Jamal’s brother is an important foil to Jamal. Jamal somehow retains his innocence throughout partly because his brother protected him and pulled them both out of exploitation. Within himself though there was no innocence though, only a battle between his instinct for self-preservation above all and sharing the humanity that his brother embodied.
24 February 2009 at 22:00
Sleepy,
I couldn’t help feeling that the slums seem to have been spring cleaned for the film – bright colours and smiley children provides a veneer of respectability to your everyday sewage strewn back street. Salim, Jamal’s brother’s character was interesting. You’re right, there was clearly an internal struggle there – the scene where he prays at night before going on to commit crimes clumsily signals this. Despite the protection afforded to Jamal by Salim and, early on through their mother, we are led to believe that he can overcome life’s obstacles and miraculously become a morally upright millionaire finding his sweetheart in the process. It’s nothing but a fairy tale.