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Released by: Fox
Released on: 3/31/2009
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Dev Patal, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mital, Anil Kapoor, IrrfanKhan
Year: 2008
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The Movie:
Danny Boyle's eight time Oscar winner was definitely the sleeper hit of 2008, and Fox has rolled out the red carpet for the unlikely 'Best Picture of the Year' winner for its home video debut. The movie follows a young man named Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an eighteen year-old orphan who has grown up on the streets of Mumbai. Jamal has wound up with a pretty interesting opportunity, one that could change his life forever - he's been selected as a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and is damn close to bringing home the big prize. When the show ends for the night, however, the cops show up and bring him in, suspecting him of having cheated his way to the top. After all, there's no way a lowly street punk like Jamal could have such an amazing range of knowledge, right?
From here, Jamal tells us of how he grew up in a slum with his brother, how they travelled around together during their youth, and how they ran afoul of a few unseemly criminal elements on their journeys. We learn about his relationship with a girl named Latika (Freida Pinto), and how all of his real life experience has wound up preparing him for the game show. With Jamal's past now out in the open, the question becomes not how he wound up on the show, but why he's there in the first place. He has, thus far, lived a very simple life without a true need for wealth - and the answer is revealed during the final question session on the show.
The concept might sound hokey when reading about it but Boyle somehow manages to make this unlikely 'rags to riches' story work. We get sucked in to Jamal's story almost instantly thanks to a great set up and some clever editing that makes us want to learn more about this interesting guy and about what he's doing attempting to win a fortune on television. Equally important to sucking us into the picture is the fantastic score from A. R. Rahman, who absolutely deserved the Oscar he took home for his work on this picture. A fantastic blend of Indian music and instrumental pieces, it's emotive, enveloping, and tragic and heart lifting throughout the film.
The performances are completely believable, particularly from Patel who is completely charming in his portrayal of Jamal. Equally impressive is Freida Pinto, as the love interest. The pair look like they could very well be a couple in real life, they're definitely the right actors for the parts. While the mix of English and Hindi might put some people off or confuse those who have trouble with thick accents (English subs are included), that shouldn't stop anyone from giving this picture a shot. It might not be for all tastes but it's a beautifully made and moving film and definitely one of the more unique pictures to win accolades of critical acclaim in quite some time. Oh, and make sure you sit through the end credits - they're very cool.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Slumdog Millionaire's AVC encoded 1080p 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is quite impressive. Doyle shot this film using digital cameras and traditional film cameras so don't be surprised if you notice a shift in tone now and again. There's also been a lot of tinkering with the colors in the film, which are filtered in various ways to reflect the mood of specific scenes. Some shots are bathed in yellow, others have more of a greenish tint to them. None of this comes at the cost of fine detail, however, as there's a lot to look at here, particularly in close up shots which look pretty remarkable, though overall detail levels aren't quite as strong as some recent Blu-ray releases. Black levels are inky and consistently deep while shadow detail looks good throughout. There aren't any obvious problems with mpeg compression or with edge enhancement, nor is there any heavy shimmering or aliasing to note and what we wind up with is a transfer that really does a nice job of accurately reproducing the film's intended and unique visual look.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track on this Blu-ray disc is very lively and active. The film is performed in a mix of English and Hindi, with automatic subtitles included for the scenes which are spoken in Hindi. Dialogue is crystal clear and the film's soundtrack, a mix of Indian inspired music and more traditional instrumental music, really bounces to life here. The low end is as strong as it needs to be and channel separation is very distinct and quite active. One of those rare tracks that finds the perfect mix of bombastic and completely relaxed as the film requires it, there's really nothing to complain about here at all, this movie sounds perfect. A French language standard definition Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track is included, as are optional subtitles in French, Spanish, and English SDH.
Extras start off with a commentary that comes courtesy of director Danny Boyle and leading man Dev Patel. This is an excellent and lively discussion about what it was like shooting the film on location in Mumbai, about staging the various scenes and creating the various set pieces, about the importance of music in the film, and what it was like working with the different cast members. There's a lot of information presented in this talk, and it's all delivered with a refreshing sense of enthusiasm that is more than a little bit infectious. There's also a good sense of humor noticeable throughout the talk that makes it all very easy to listen to and enjoy. There's also a second commentary track that comes from producer Christian Colson and writer Simon Beaufoy that does a good job of filling us in on just how this film made it from concept to finished product. It isn't quite as involving or as fun as the first track but it does give us some good insight into the writing and producing process.
Up next is Slumdog Dreams: The Making Of Slumdog Millionaire, which is a twenty-two minute featurette on the making of the film that features a mix of Danny Boyle talking about various parts of the film and behind the scenes footage. It's generally pretty interesting stuff, particularly the bits where we see Boyle working with the child cast members trying to get their scenes just right for the film. The behind the scenes footage does a good job of giving us a fly on the wall look at some of the movies more memorable moments and, as such, we get a feel for Boyle's directing style. There's also a bit that takes a look at shooting the now fairly famous toiler scene that's worth checking out.
There are also twelve deleted scenes here, which total roughly thirty three minutes in length. They're presented without a score but are otherwise here in nice quality. Nothing here would have really changed the film much at all, but it's nice that they've been included for the sake of completion and some of the expository bits round out a few of the characters a little bit more.
Animated menus, a music video, a pair of trailers, an Indian short film entitled Manjha, chapter selection and a second disc including a digital copy of the film round out the extra features.
The Final Word:
A surprisingly entertaining and enthralling drama that works far better than it probably sounded like it should have on paper. It's wonderfully directed, beautifully shot, expertly acted and all set to a killer soundtrack and Fox has done a very nice job with the audio, video, and extra features.