Anyone who said that Slumdog Millionaire won all those awards because it was a 'feel good' movie in the midst of a recession - was lying. Brilliant film, yes, but in my opinion 'feel good' no. Words that spring to my mind are; 'gritty realism' 'technicolour' 'raw' 'dynamic' 'epic'. I sat down on Friday night (opening night here in Nairobi) expecting something a bit soppy and sentimental and was hit between the eyes by a really fascinating and memorable film.
I did feel there was a bit of injustice in the fact that the adult actors were getting a lot of acclaim through award ceremonies worldwide but the many excellent child actors and actresses were probably still in India...possibly going nowhere. I also slightly questioned the fact that the character of the male lead who was such an all round nice guy, given the harsh, hand to mouth upbringing he endured.
The Mumbai slums reminded me a lot of Africa. I guess slums are slums wherever you are.
Definitely worth watching.
The diary of a British expat living in Kenya. News, views, debate and a healthy dose of trivia.
There was some public outcry following the success of the film when it was discovered that the child actors were still living in squalor in Mumbai. As a result, their families were "given" apartments and rickshaws to carry the children to school each day. If they had been paid a fair salary or had received even a tiny percentage of the film's revenue in the first place they would be set for life and wouldn't need to be given anything. As much as I enjoyed the film it is forever tainted by the fact that the filmakers seem to have exploited the very children whose cause they were trying to call attention to.
ReplyDeleteThere are many sides to this story anonymous. One is that at least one of the families of the children squandered/lost the money the kids earned to loan sharks immediately they were paid a percentage. With that in mind, I believe the remainder of the money has been put in trust for them to recieve on completion of school at 16 - and to ensure they go they are recieving transport to and from school every day courtesy of the film company...it is the kind of film that will forever create urban myths and controversy about the child stars, I'm sure....
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. I found it hard to watch at times, but I thought it was great and deserved all the acclaim. I suspect, too, that these young kids will get their 15 minutes of fame and then continue to struggle the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeletehear hear!!
ReplyDeleteKudos for saying that!!
ReplyDeleteI think people say it's feel good because of the last scene... two lovers (so-called) reuniting as a last scene kind of makes you forget the rest...
As with me it also did not. I had done social work in slums in India and this film hit me very hard. Parts of the film I cried for these people. It does show the grim reality of life. That doesn't make anyone feel good to know that such disparity, lack for respect for the next human being, and shamelessness (among other descriptors) exist....
How do you think the movie would be the same or different if it was a story based on Kenyan slum dwellers?
As an interesting side note- today in USA I went to Walmart.. they now have clothing made in Kenya in Walmart. I hope they are getting good wages .....
- the film was a commercial risk and until very late in the day the producer found it v. difficult to find anyone willing to distribute it
ReplyDelete- the actors were paid well above the going rate that local producers would have paid
- when the film started doing well (possibly before?), it was agreed that monies be put in trust for the childrens' education
- cash money (a lovely Eastern expression) given to some (all?) of the families was quickly blown
- the children were taken to the Oscars and had a whale of a time going to Disney and various other places and being bought incredibly to the minute clothes - I was startled by the pictures I saw
- the other day, I saw the 2 main child actors going down the catwalk at a fashion show in India with fabuoous smiles on their faces - they stole the show
- yes, they are a tiny minority of the children living in wretchedness. The primary responsibility for that lies with the Indian government and Indian society.
- billing the film as a 'feel good film' was just a marketing gimmick - we are all familiar with those
- personally I didn't enjoy the film hugely (I have been to India about 35 times and have many connections with the place); it was bit like really bad Italian TV. Where the film came alive, and was done beautifully, was right at the end when the [fabulous] graphics began rolling - an object lesson to those dreadful film producers in Mumbai, who despite decades of experience are still producing the most awful, infantile rubbish. I don't for a moment believe that it is beyond the wit of man to produce escapist films that would be in fact be a tribute to the sophistication and ingenuity of the Indian poor instead of the embarassment that is the popular Hindi film 'industry'.
Sorry for long post - had to get that of my chest; hopefully rest of the day will be less hysterical
;)
Glad you enjoyed it - I agree with you.. it was a bit hard watching at times. However, if it highlights the issues with slums and the way in which some people are forced to live then so much the better.
ReplyDeleteThis is to the last Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I get the point of your post.
You're saying it's okay that they being exploited?
1. All the actors were paid? Well gee, I hope so.
2. What does it matter that they took the kids to the Oscars and Disneyland? As far as I'm concerned those were just photo ops.
3. You saw them smiling on a catwalk? Look I read that article too, and it seemed pretty clear that these kids are being exploited by the parents and adults.
THEY STILL LIVE IN THE MUMBAI SLUMS.
They're getting their 15 min of fame and the parents and industry is trying to profit quickly before it's over. Do you think the money is going into a trust fund for them? I don't think so. These kids won't see a dime of the money. I think it's incredibly sad.
I agree that Slumdog Millionaire was fascinating and memorable, but not feel good...except for maybe the last moment! Someone had the nerve to tell me that "Slums like those in Slumdog don't exist." I said "I can't speak for India, but I spent several months in Kenya, and the similarities were striking." I'm glad to see Jennifer's comment to know for sure...though I had no doubt, that they are a reality. Hopefully at the very least the film will bring some of these issues to into the light. I remember when The Constant Gardener came out and some members of my bookclub told me they "hated it" because the "slums were so depressing." Um yeah, that's kind of the point. Ugh, people!
ReplyDeleteLOL (well, I wanna be polite)... the film-makers took a risk with the film. If any actor thought he/she was being exploited... well, then do NOT act in the movie...
ReplyDeleteAs for the kids, they got an experience they would never have had. I bet there are MILLIONS of slum-kids who would kill (literally) to be the child-actors!
And where are the bloody Bollywood film-makers who could have made the movies using slum-kids?
They were busy paying millions to the 'known/famous' actors. And the slum-kids would happily go watch those movies!
Give credit to the film-makers instead of griping over the 'injustices' to the slum-kids/dogs.
Or go make (or finance) a movie yourself in kibera & reward the actors appropriately.
Yes, Slumdog Millionaire was really good. I have watched it 5 times, I like it very much. In this movie all the things is so good.
ReplyDelete