Worth a Million Dollars. Or Rupees.

Okay, I'm finally going to talk about Slumdog Millionaire. While it's true that the initial shine and glory of walking stunned and amazed out of the theater has worn off since Saturday, I still have a few thoughts about it.

Thought #1: Wow.

Yeah, that's it, really. It's an incredible film. Not only was it filmed on location in India, a feat in and of itself, but it seemed to capture some essential feeling of India... Even thought it was made by a non-Indian director - He's British, actually... I believe.

While I'm on the director - Whose name is Danny Boyle, I wanted to point out something I observed.

Thought #2: This guy is obsessed with millions of dollars.

I recognized his name from another film, which stayed with me for some reason: Millions. Millions was a small, generally un-noticed film about a young boy who found a great deal of money, and had to figure out what to do with it. It was also a beautiful, really sweet film... But I wonder what it is about millions of $ for this man Boyle. He seems transfixed about the effect winning or getting such an amount of money would have on a human. It's an interesting topic, I'll grant you that.

Okay, back to Slumdog. Really briefly, it's the tale of a boy (Jamal) and his brother (Salim) who are orphaned. Along the way, they meet a girl named Latika, who Jamal takes a liking to, in that really cute little kid kind of way. Chaos insues, and the boys are separated from Latika. The rest of the film is basically about Jamal fighting all the odds to get back to Latika. However, there's a catch, of sorts... It's not a linear story. The entire film also centers around Jamal being a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire. As each question comes up, it relates somehow to his life, and we learn a bit more about his story.

Now, it sounds simple - or maybe complicated - but what you can't get from a summary is that it's done beautifully. Everything ties together smoothly, flows completely congruently, and just basically combines to create a work of art. What really struck me, though. It's a really complicated way of telling a story, yet it came off quite naturally.

Thought #3: It doesn't take much.

We don't learn about Jamal's entire life, yet we feel like we do. Each question that is asked reveals a piece of his story, yet by the end, I feel like I traveled with Jamal along his entire life's journey.

Okay, final comment. As you can maybe tell by the poster, one of the movie's main ideas or themes is the idea of Destiny: "It is written."

Thought #4: Destiny rocks.

It's such a nice touch to make a movie seem as if it could have only happened one way. There are no alternate-scenarios, no "what-ifs"... That's how real life is. Life happens one way. You can't double back or second guess, and neither could a viewer of this film. Even the hard parts of the film - some of the more violent scenes - are acceptable because that's just how it is. It's how it is in India, and it's what the character would have faced had this been a real story. It isn't glossed over or made prettier than it actual is, which would have taken away some of the film's beauty and authenticity.

So there you have it. It's an amazing film and I truly and heartily recommend it. I hope it wins all sorts of awards, because I think it deserves it.