Slumdog Millionaire

A game-show backdrop lets 'Slumdog Millionaire' weave a dynamic tale of life and love

By Kenneth Turan MOVIE CRITIC

Who would believe that the best old-fashioned audience picture of the year, a Hollywood-style romantic melodrama that delivers major studio satisfactions in an ultra-modern way, was made on the streets of India with largely unknown stars by a British director who never makes the same movie twice? Go figure. That would be the hard-to-resist "Slumdog Millionaire," with director Danny Boyle adding independent film touches to a story of star-crossed romance that the original Warner brothers would have embraced, shamelessly pulling out stops that you wouldn't think anyone would have the nerve to attempt anymore. But Boyle has been nothing if not bold with this film. He's dared to use so many venerable movie elements it's dizzying, dared us to say we won't be moved or involved, dared us to say we're too hip to fall for tricks that are older than we are. And, as witnessed by "Slumdog's" capturing of the Toronto Film Festival's often prophetic audience award, he's won that bet. Because he's a director who is always up for something different, Boyle's films run an unmatchable gamut, from the punk operatic of "Transporting" to the sweetness of "Millions," the shock of "28 Days Later" and the science-fiction theatrics of "Sunshine." What unites all of them, though, is the unstoppable cinematic energy pouring off the screen that's at the heart of Boyle's always vigorous style.

Given that, it was perhaps inevitable that the director would end up making a film in India, plugging effortlessly into the phenomenal liveliness and nonstop street life of the place. And he's upped the ante by hiring the great A.R. Rahman, the king of Bollywood music, to contribute one of his unmistakable propulsive scores.

（写于2009-4-6）