Slumdog Millionaire has emerged out of nowhere to become this year’s Oscar favorite. But why? There are six reasons, according this article, for Slumdog Millionaire‘s massive appeal and success. Here are the two that stand out to me:
5. The Tourist Factor: For those whose only exposure to India might have been phone calls to customer service and the odd curry dinner, “Slumdog” is an eye-opener. Boyle resisted stepping back and shooting the movie like a travelogue. Instead, he thrusts the audience into a street-level view of the sights and sounds of India — from the slum’s crowded back alleys to the new gleaming towers of Mumbai, from the Taj Mahal to a stomach-churning outhouse. When you watch “Slumdog,” you feel like you’ve been to India.
6. Bollywood: Remember back during the early ’90s when Tinseltown did a collective double-take about wildly over-the-top flicks coming out of Hong Kong, movies like “The Killer,” “City on Fire” and “Supercop”? It wasn’t long afterwards that the likes of John Woo and Chow Yun Fat were making movies stateside and Hong Kong choreographers like Yuen Woo-ping were in high demand to add some kung fu spice to films like “The Matrix.” Well, the same might be happening now with Bollywood.
I just don’t get the hype surrounding Slumdog Millionaire. It’s is a good story with a nice happy ending but as far as it being the best movie of the year… I just don’t see it. Maybe I have to see it again and then I’ll jump on the Slumdog bandwaggon. But for me, at this moment, there is something not quite appealing about Slumdog Millionaire.
I am glad that this article mentioned “The Tourist Factor” because I think that plays a huge part in Slumdog’s appeal. It is just another example of how the West becomes completely enthralled by the East.
Here is my review of Slumdog Millionaire.
@Cinefille 