2002 Winner - Chicago
Now I will confess, I never saw Chicago. It looked like a boring musical with Queen Latifah, need I say more? Although this year was a rather weak year for the nominees, I would have probably given the award to Gangs of New York because it had Daniel Day-Lewis and the Academy had scorned Scorsese for so long.
2003 Winner - LOTR: Return of the King
I liked the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I really did. But the key word here is trilogy. And not only a trilogy, but one that was filmed as a cohesive whole. So why does the final one win while the other two were only nominated? Did the Academy feel that they were obligated to give Peter Jackson something for all the work he put into the films? Or did it win because it wrapped the series whereas the other two were only buildup? It seemed to me that they just gave this one to Jackson since he was nominated for the previous two. To be honest, I never thought this film would win, simply because the Academy is reluctant to give even best picture nominations to Sci-Fi or Fantasy films. I would have voted for Lost in Translation without a second thought and am still mad it didn't win.
2007 Winner - No Country For Old Men
I actually have no qualms with this choice, it was a good film with an excellent villain and some stunning cinematography. But would I have picked it to win? No, I would have picked Atonement, simply because that is the kind of the film the Academy seems to adore.
So what point am I trying to make? That I'm a terrible guesser? Sort of, but also that the Academy is hard to predict. Even when all the other award shows beforehand like the Golden Globes shower a film with awards, there is no guarantee that the Academy will follow. Indeed, it seems at times that the Academy purposely doesn't conform to expectations. Brokeback Mountain is a sure example of that. Which brings us to this year's awards. Slumdog Millionaire was cleaning up like Brokeback did, which was one reason why I didn't think it would win. When it did, I decided that I had better go see what all the fuss was about.
A phrase you will hear tossed around among critics and movie aficionados is "Oscar Bait". This refers to films that are based on themes that appeal to the Academy voters. A film like The Reader or Revolutionary Road are obvious Oscar Bait films. Not to say they aren't good, but that's just the category they fall into. When I first heard of Slumdog Millionaire, I assumed it to be Oscar Bait. A plucky hero trying to get the girl, with the whole game show thing as a sort of gimmicky plot device.
Boy was I wrong. Slumdog is a brilliant film that leaves the audience feeling satisfied. It is the quintessential love story that is so well built up within the conflict of the plot that makes the whole machine go. Slumdog tells the story of a former Mumbai street urchin named Jamal who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in the hope that his lifelong love will see him on the show. Jamal is the perfect protagonist, a sort of Indian Romeo, in that he isn't perfect but instantly relatable. The victim of poverty and orphaned with his brother at a young age, we see Jamal's life through the series of questions on the game show.
The overarching theme to the movie is the prevalence of destiny above all obstacles. It's a little cheesy and far fetched, but this is a feel good movie, and destiny is shown not as divine influence, but rather as a series of fortunate coincidences. Take the game show structure. A lesser film would concentrate more on Jamal as a contestant, using cliche Deus ex Machinas to explain how he knows the answer. Pay close attention to the way the reason Jamal knows the answers is given in the film. There is some expert screenwriting going on here. Instead of showing the answers to the questions to the audience as if they are children, they are subtle hints that Jamal, and the audience, get to figure out on their own.
The reason the film works is because we care about the characters. Jamal is extremely likable and is more of a real person rather than a simple character archetype. Latika, Jamal's destined love, is mysterious and beautiful. Another character is almost universally hated at one point in the film, before his inevitable redemption. The point is, we care about these fictional people, and want them to succeed. Once a director can get an audience to feel genuine emotion for the characters, they have the puppet strings in their hands.
As I watched the film, I was constantly amazed by the seamless and breathtaking editing in the film. It deserved the editing Oscar hands down. The film is not a minute too short or too long, and the cuts and edits are so ingrained in the plot that the movie feels alive. It is truly a spectacle to behold. I have debated with myself whether the setting has something to do with the magic of the film. When boiled down, this story is a simple love story told through a game show. It could be easily adapted to other lower class settings in the world. It could have been set in Skid Row, or Somalia, or any number of places. But would it have the same magic that the Indian setting provides? I cannot say for sure, but I'm leaning towards no.
Part of that magic comes from the soundtrack by A.H Rahman. An eclectic mix of Indian flavored music, it evokes the right emotions at exactly the right times. Director Danny Boyle told Rahman that he hated sentiment, and that he wanted no cello in the score. Rahman instead provides and upbeat and fantastic soundtrack that is refreshing and innovative. Of course, M.I.A makes several appearances, which actually fit the film very well. There is the requisite love theme that is beautiful and solemn at the same time. But the real showstopper is the final song "Jai Ho". This bombastic song appears during the end credits, when the cast performs a flamboyant dance number in true Bollywood fashion.
There are only two films I saw in the last year where I actually cared about the characters on a very personal level. One was WALL-E, and the other is Slumdog Millionaire. Sure it's a cheesy love story, and sure it is heavy on the cliched destiny. But you know what, it doesn't matter. It is a terrific film, and you should go see it. Now.
5 Musketeers out of 5
Second Opinion: Filmdrunk Review
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