Genre: Crime/Drama/Romance

Director: Danny Boyle

Certificate: Slumdog Millionaire was rated 15A by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 15 years of age or upwards.  Persons under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Violence = strong. Drugs = none. Sex/Nudity = mild. Language = moderate.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Slumdog Millionaire

I don't really know where to start with this film as there's such a lot going on but suffice to say following the disappointing Sunshine from Danny Boyle he's back on top form in what will, I think, be one of the more memorable films of 2009.

Ostensibly a love story between Jamal an orphaned boy from the Mumbai slums and Latika a young orphan girl who Jamal and his brother Salim take pity on as they are left to fend for themselves following the death of their mother.  The story follows the heartbreaking journey these children make, and I have to say if you are easily offended by poverty and squalor you may have to look away at times as its portrayal of the Indian slums is both raw and brutal to watch.

The film sees the brothers along with Latika lurch from one disaster to the next as they as they desperately fend for themselves on the streets, resulting in an incident that will see Latika become separated from the brothers during a heart wrenching episode.

The years pass and the boys grow up but Jamal (Dev Patel) cannot forget Latika (Friedo Pinto) however his brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) has become hardened by his life on the streets and begins to run with the wrong crowd following a brief reunion with Latika that ends in high drama.  Soon the brothers become separated and their paths take them in different directions as they both fight for survival.

Jamal decides to make one last attempt at being reunited with Latika by appearing on the quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire ironically not to win the money but in the hope that she'll be watching and thus the story unfolds in a series of flashbacks from the brothers’ childhood.

I'll say no more and I've kept the synopsis as brief as I can as this is one that has to be seen.  It's so much more than a film about a quiz show, it's about greed, poverty, exploitation, righteousness and most of all fate.  There's tragedy and degradation by the bucketful but what is so clever about this film is that through it all there is beauty, love, and hope shining through, and it has a feel good factor that you can't fail to be touched by.

A wonderful cast including the child actors, a superb soundtrack, and some stark yet mesmerising views of India, makes it a film  that you can hardly bare to take your eyes away from the screen just in case you miss something however small.  Fortunately, or not as the case may be, it has come around at a time when we want to forget so many of our own problems, that when you see the abject poverty in this film, you question whether we really know what true poverty is.  Of course the old dilemmas are there as to whether we should be entertained at the expense of what at the end of the day is real life misery, however Boyle has handled it all with such genuine sensitivity and emotion you can't fail to be won over by it all.  Go watch it you'll come away with mixed emotions, and a tear or two, but won't be disappointed.  In a word - Wonderful.

Reviewed by Mary Kate, Premier Movie Reviews 2009

• Dev Patel
• Anil Kapoor
• Saurabh Shukla
• Rajendranath Zutshi
• Jeneva Talwar
• Freida Pinto
• Irrfan Khan

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