Sunday, February 15, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

I had been hearing good things about this movie for a while so it was exciting to finally get to see it. I loved it. It had some very sad and realistic views of life in India along with scenes of religious violence and deaths. It also had strong child actors and just enough lightness to make it bearable.

I don't know whether a young child should be allowed to see some of the scenes. For example, there is a scene where a man chloroformed a boy and scooped out his eyes so he would earn more money as a beggar. I don't know the rating, but the movie is a must see. Just watch out for these scenes.

So where is the lightness? Perhaps riding the rails is a universal metaphor for finding a better life. Perhaps selling the shoes of foreigners who remove them and leave them in a pile before entering the Taj Mahal, represents pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. In any case, it strikes a universal chord.

Add to that the theme of the three musketeers running through the script. If you don't know the name of the third musketeer, I will not tell you. But I was familiar with Alexandre Dumas from a very young age and was delighted that, in this story, the third musketeer is a little girl named Latika.

6 comments:

believer333 said...

UH Sue. You said you wouldn't tell us the name of the third musketeer and then you told us. LOL :)

Suzanne McCarthy said...

No, not at all. In the movie the three musketeers are Selim, Jamal and Latika. But in the novel "The Three Musketeers" by Dumas, they were Athos, Porthos and who?

That is the final question in the contest. What is the name of the third musketeer? And does Latika know the name of the third musketeer? Anyway, its a great movie.

believer333 said...

Aaaahh. God it! But I don't know either. :)

Suzanne McCarthy said...

I know because I was in love with the three musketeers when I was five. But I am not telling. You should see the movie.

Ruth said...

Aramis?

Suzanne McCarthy said...

yes. :-)