Quick reviews: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and MILK
02/15/09 20:52
Oh. My.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a better, more horrible film than SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. I don’t ever want to watch it again, and I want to watch it sixteen times in a row, so I see everything and understand it all. If this picture doesn’t win Best Picture I will eat my kid’s hat (I don’t wear hats).
The story itself is fantastic--kid with nothing gets everything, even after you think it’s going to end horribly--but the way it’s told is incredible. And the love story? One for the ages--Jamal and Latika, against all odds. As a writer, my favorite thing about it was its character development. We learned SO MUCH SO QUICKLY about Jamal and Salim (Salim is his brother). Within ten minutes of the film’s beginning, we know Jamal is tenacious and Salim is crooked. There’s a time transition in the film that’s incredible, too--the boys fall off the train, and they’re probably 7 and 8. When they stop rolling down the hill after falling off the train, they’re 12 and 13. Smooth as silk. The film jumps around in time quite often, but the jumps never leave you confused.
But then there’s MILK. I was introduced to Harvey Milk through the first documentary about him, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK, back in college, and I was completely taken with the man. And I would SWEAR to you the film starts with Harvey’s voice, an actual tape of his voice. Sean Penn completely inhabits him.
As a writer, my favorite thing is the completeness of the immersion. The transport back into the 70s is solid--not once was I jolted into the 21st century. Sean Penn never lets you know he’s Sean Penn--he’s just Harvey. And the passion---oh, the passion! That’s why I like Harvey Milk as a human: he stood for something incredibly important, and passion gets me every time. Sean Penn was the perfect person to deliver Milk’s passion to a wider audience.
Then again, what do I know? See another opinion of MILK here, one from the POV of someone who still has to live the reality of Prop 8. Every story has a zillion sides, and what I see from a straight woman’s perspective is definitely not the same thing she sees. And SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has detractors, too. Check here for a story about two of the child actors who still live in slums, even though the film has grossed a gazillion dollars.
Good stories---great stories---but at whose expense? An interesting question.
I’m not sure I’ve seen a better, more horrible film than SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. I don’t ever want to watch it again, and I want to watch it sixteen times in a row, so I see everything and understand it all. If this picture doesn’t win Best Picture I will eat my kid’s hat (I don’t wear hats).
The story itself is fantastic--kid with nothing gets everything, even after you think it’s going to end horribly--but the way it’s told is incredible. And the love story? One for the ages--Jamal and Latika, against all odds. As a writer, my favorite thing about it was its character development. We learned SO MUCH SO QUICKLY about Jamal and Salim (Salim is his brother). Within ten minutes of the film’s beginning, we know Jamal is tenacious and Salim is crooked. There’s a time transition in the film that’s incredible, too--the boys fall off the train, and they’re probably 7 and 8. When they stop rolling down the hill after falling off the train, they’re 12 and 13. Smooth as silk. The film jumps around in time quite often, but the jumps never leave you confused.
But then there’s MILK. I was introduced to Harvey Milk through the first documentary about him, THE TIMES OF HARVEY MILK, back in college, and I was completely taken with the man. And I would SWEAR to you the film starts with Harvey’s voice, an actual tape of his voice. Sean Penn completely inhabits him.
As a writer, my favorite thing is the completeness of the immersion. The transport back into the 70s is solid--not once was I jolted into the 21st century. Sean Penn never lets you know he’s Sean Penn--he’s just Harvey. And the passion---oh, the passion! That’s why I like Harvey Milk as a human: he stood for something incredibly important, and passion gets me every time. Sean Penn was the perfect person to deliver Milk’s passion to a wider audience.
Then again, what do I know? See another opinion of MILK here, one from the POV of someone who still has to live the reality of Prop 8. Every story has a zillion sides, and what I see from a straight woman’s perspective is definitely not the same thing she sees. And SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE has detractors, too. Check here for a story about two of the child actors who still live in slums, even though the film has grossed a gazillion dollars.
Good stories---great stories---but at whose expense? An interesting question.