Slumdog Millionaire

The film, Slumdog Millionaire’s extraordinary success at the Academy Awards and at the Oscars roused my interest, making me curious to experience the spectacle myself. My housemates in toe, we ventured to the evening performance at the Odeon in Southampton. The advantages of this particular cinema include an accessible location and free parking in the evenings – always useful on a student budget. Being part of the industrial Leisureworld complex, it shares the space with typical chain restaurants and the newly opened Oceana night club.

Another money-saver for the student, ‘Orange Wednesday’ allowed us to benefit from the ‘2-for-1’ offer. The enormous queue was a promising omen and after a fifteen minute wait, we were offered premium seats for an extra £1.50 per person. Having saved money thus far, we opted for a better view and ended up paying a reasonable £4.50 each.

A tempting selection of confectionery, drinks and popcorn welcome cinema-goers, but unsurprisingly, are extortionately priced. Being resourceful students, we purchased drinks from Waitrose prior to our outing, but decided to splash out on a large sweet popcorn to share, setting us back £4.00!

The screening was packed, almost every seat was occupied - our premium seats proved a profitable investment, providing comfort and an unrestricted view. After the standard 20 minutes of tedious advertisements and trailers for films set to flop, the film began.

The film itself was remarkable; being innovative and driven by an intriguing narrative - rather than ground-breaking special effects that distract the viewer from the plot. Set in Mumbai, the film follows Jamal, a street kid or ‘slumdog’ who lands an appearance on India’s version of the TV show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? When Jamal advances to the final question, he is arressted on suspision of foul-play and his interrogation by police unviels harrowing flashbacks, revealing both horrific and moving images of the poverty in Mumbai. Thus, explaining his knowledge of the millionaire questions.

I had mixed expectations prior to the film, reviews are often biased and highly subjective or grossly over-exaggerated – the average viewer will not rate the cinematography or editing as perceptively as the critics. However, in this instance they were accurate, the film deserved its positive reception for emotive performances, a moving score and real narrative. I highly recommed Slumdog Millionaire and in my opinion, it is one of the best films I have had the pleasure to watch. To view the tralier for Slumdog Millionaire, follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q