Slumdog Millionaire

Saw Slumdog Millionaire last night and, yes, it's the feel good film of the year. The evolution of the story was refreshing and engaged the audience, even through the final credits (whilst I dashed off to the bathroom). India is a fascinating country and the harsh reality of life was not replaced by Bollywood sound stages. There's one scene where they are shooting a panoramic view of Mumbai, some trashmen come by and one says to the camera, "No film." It's very subtle and I loved that Boyle chose to include that with the final cut. Furthermore, some of the scenes in the Taj Mahal were shot with a Canon EOS in order to avoid unwanted attention in such a public area. I've also read that a lot of the action was filmed guerilla style and required carrying a Macbook packed with dry ice to keep it cool.

Boyle's commitment to the young actors and discovering new fresh faces is commendable. Freida Pinto, who plays the eldest version of Latika, is a stunning beauty and she does a wonderful job acting beside Dev Patel. They have been thrust onto the international stage and I hope Shia LaBeouf relinquishes some of his roles, as it seems like this guy is in every film now, to these up & coming stars.