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I saw this British made low budget movie about modern India - “Slumdog Millionaire” this past weekend and was very moved. It was voted the best picture by the Golden Globe Award and predicted to win the same for this year’s Oscar award.
This is a movie about typical rags-to-riches story. But it is much more than that. It is a microcosm of modern India; it is about family, survival, loyalty, love, betrayal, devotion, and redemption woven by the skillful screenwriter into a tapestry of incomparable beauty and emotional appeal. For the first quarter of the movie, the audience may wonder what the movie is all about. But as the plot of the story evolves, you begin to see the genius of the writer and director who like an expert playing the game of “GO” stages each scene like a pawn strategically placed on the game board only to reveal its significance in time leading to the final climax. The movie actually begins one minute before the final scene and plays out as a series of flash backs that tells the wonderful feel-good story. Even the background scence played during "production credits" after the movie ended is spirit uplifting.
Many Chinese who lived in China for the past 30 years must resonate with the theme of this movie. I highly recommend it.
(Notes added 2/23/09) As predicted, "Slumdog Millionaire" won eight Academy Awards, including the prizes for best picture and director. The New York Sunday Times was even moved to suggest that Oscar should include a category for "credit scenes". These are scenes where credits for people involved with the movie are shown at the end of the movie. Usually they are nothing biut white text on black background which few audiences watch. But for the "Slumdog Millionaire", the credit scenes were a joyous dance number that audiences linger over about feeling good.