I was really rather perplexed by all the praise for Slumdog so I asked Richard about it because I knew he liked it a lot and he usually has good reasons for being enthusiastic about a film.
Richard's comments:
"I saw The Reader and I wholeheartedly agree that Winslet deserves Best Actress but I still think Slumdog was a slightly more important film because it advances the medium and deals with new subject matter. The way they captured city life with minimal disruption of the city's life was unprecedented. Remember, movies have only been shooting in city streets since WWII and it's extraordinarily difficult to do it without shutting everything down and faking everything. Getting Mumbai right is important because it is the poster child for globalization, a subject whose complexity can make one feel small. But through the story of a small child, Slumdog brings us closer to understanding the massive and overwhelming social changes taking place around us right now."
I think I was focusing too much on the rather hokey love story aspect and not seeing the other things Richard mentions. And of course even the hokey love story is very "Bollywood" I guess and shows a lot about the culture. I kinda figured I didn't quite get it!
And we were just watching the news and we learned that some of the young actors were from the slums and are still there and that the film was low budget. I wouldn't have believed that...so I am beginning to be rather intrigued by it all.
