How glum were you yesterday? Those media harbingers of doom and gloom were at pains to remind us at every opportunity about January 19th being the most depressing day of 2009. Thankfully I was out and about for most of it and didn’t get much of a chance to dwell on it. Plus with the promise of today’s inauguration of a man who the vast majority of us think is actually going to Make A Difference, I wouldn’t have given pessimism the time of day quite frankly.
However, if you DID feel down and you’re still not right then may I suggest a restorative in the form of Slumdog Millionaire. It may be only January but I have a strong feeling this one is going to stay top of my films of 2009 for quite some many months to come. From the opening chase through the slums (remember the opening of City of God with the chicken? There’s definitely something of that energy and humour here), to the pulsing soundtrack to the Bollywood spectacle at the end, this is a film that totally transports you to India, with all its associated vibrancy and energy. You can almost smell it (more’s the pity when it comes to a certain incident involving our young autograph-hunting hero and a long drop...)
Ok, it’s probably slightly flawed in parts (how predictable was the final question on the TV show? And was the love story really that convincing?) but Slumdog Millionaire is for me the ultimate feelgood film of the moment. Long live Danny Boyle!
