Movie Review of Slumdog Millionaire
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The movie that I selected for this assignment is Slumdog millionaire, which Simon Beaufoy wrote its screenplay. The film won an Oscar award for the best original screenplay. The movie talks of Jamal, an 18-year-old who ends up winning 20 million rupees in a popular TV show in Indian. The movie also presents Jamal’s love for Latika as well as his relationship with his brother, who is part of Javed’s gang.
The movie won an Oscar because of the screenplay writer’s ability to take a distinct angle that involves gang violence as well as other challenges experienced by slum dwellers in showing the protagonist’s rise from grass to grace. In the first act of the screenplay, the writer presents two scenes, one at Javed’s house where they are shooting and the other at Who wants to be a millionaire set. The writer cleverly introduces the conflict through Malik’s torture at the interrogation room, making the audience aware that Prem is not for Malik’s winning (Lingerfelt, 2016). The writer uses an antagonist, Prem, who is jealous and accuses Malik of cheating. However, he ensures that Prem is not that evil since he is dedicated to his work in the show.
The screenplay is meticulously written as the writing moves perfectly from the past to the present. The writer introduces Malik’s history through the stories that he gives the police, which makes the viewers like him. As one reads the screenplay, they realize that every scene happened because of the other (Mudambi, 2013). For instance, Salim is shooting at Javed because he betrayed him by letting Latika go. Additionally, the writer ensures that the stake for Amir winning 20 million rupees is high, which is him winning over and communicating with the love of his life, Latika.
References
Lingerfelt, J. (2016). Fundamentals of Hollywood Screenwriting with James Russell Lingerfelt [DVD].
Mudambi, A. (2013). Another look at orientalism:(An) othering in Slumdog Millionaire. Howard Journal of Communications, 24(3), 275-292.