Expecting an award-winning poignant film, Priya Parmar and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire last night. Based on a novel, the film takes place in Mumbai, where a young man from the slums wins the top prize on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
The film centers on Jamil's win, and his subsequent arrest by violent, sadistic local cops who want to break his claim that he won the money honestly. Memories of Midnight Express clouded my head as I watched the police interrogate the houng Muslim, who refuses to change his claims of honesty.
The India of Slumdog Millionaire is an India of violence, gansters, whores, beggers, and evil. The only redeeming character is Jamil, who stands in sharp contrast to the evil, one-dimensional characters who inhabit the rest of the film.
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