Viraj's Weblog

Upon first glancing at the IMDB page for this movie I thought it was a Bollywood one, and I'm not much of a fan of those. Then I saw the director 'Danny Boyle'. This guy did some awesome movies like Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, and 28 Days Later. One thing about all of those movies is the great use of music, almost as if the music is driving the movie. Slumdog is like that too, and the best way I can describe it is an Indian version of City of God.

I think most people didn't expect to see so much violence in the movie, but it really brings to light the fallacy of what many people think India is like: some exotic place where everyone is nice. The movie gets pretty brutal as it follows a boy rising out of the slums. Granted, there are other movies like Salaam Bombay! that also do a good job of showing the seedy side of India. However, the vivid cinematography in Slumdog is unmatched.

Boyle does a great job of filming the trains with the same technical fascination as a boy with a Lego set. Everything about the movie is just really nicely done.