Slumdog Millionaire

Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Year of Release: 2008
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Dev Patel, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto

Plot outline: A penniless, eighteen year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, Jamal Malik is one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's ''Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested on suspicion of cheating (IMDb).

Orphaned after his mother is killed during an anti-Muslim riot, seven-year-old Jamal Malik is left to fend for himself in a decidedly Dickensian Mumbai, where he, Salim and Latika soon find themselves working for a Fagin-ish exploitative villain. Danny Boyle’s relentless energy and kinetic style do a good job of glossing over that fact, making the movie feel much more substantial than it really is. But the good performances, brilliant editing, and pulsating soundtrack can’t cover up the movie’s crucial failure. The story revolves around Jamal and his love for Latika, a girl he meets when he’s just a boy. Before he can reach adolescence, they’re separated, and he spends the rest of his life searching for her, only to lose her yet again after one night once he does find her. From that point on, his whole life revolves around this girl, who he feels he’s meant to be with, but we, the audience, can’t understand why. She may have charmed Jamal, but she never charms us. In fact, we never find out anything about her, and so she remains just a pretty face. And thus, we reach the movie’s biggest conceit. That Latika is still the girl Jamal remembers from his youth. That they’re meant to be together despite knowing practically nothing about each other. That it’s not only okay, but even profitable, to live your life solely in pursuit of a single woman you don’t know. If you buy into this, you’ll go for it in a big way. The flash, the energy, and the feel-good nature are there in full force, capped off by a memorable closing-credits sequence. But if the conceit’s too great, then you’ll see it as a well-done fairy tale and nothing more. (FML, NS)

My judgement: *** out of 4 stars

Secret Ceremony

Movie Review: Secret Ceremony

Year of Release: 1968
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Joseph Losey
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Mia Farrow, Robert Mitchum

Plot outline: A woman and a girl she insists is her long-lost daughter are caught in a web of insanity and deception in this psychological thriller (IMDb).

This psychological thriller of mistaken identities, mental disturbance, and sexual deviance - based on a prize-winning short story by an Argentine civil servant - received reasonably positive reviews upon its release, but has since been criticized by most as either campy and/or “ill-conceived”. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between: while the convoluted narrative occasionally defies belief (and completely devolves by the end), it remains bizarrely compelling until then, thanks in large part to the brave performances given by both Farrow and Taylor. From her first appearance on screen, Farrow - wearing a long, black wig and tights - is completely convincing as a 22-year-old with the mind of a child; but it’s Taylor who really cements the story: while her performance gets off to a bumpy start, we’re soon captivated by her increasingly nuanced portrayal as a self-sufficient prostitute who knows a good deal when she sees it, yet can’t help feeling genuine maternal concern for Cenci. Despite its flaws, Secret Ceremony offers enough provocative moments to make it worth checking out. (FF)

My judgement: ** out of 4 stars

Of Human Bondage

Movie Review: Of Human Bondage

Year of Release: 1934
Country of Origin: USA
Director: John Cromwell
Cast: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Frances Dee, Kay Johnson, Reginald Denny

Plot outline: A medical student risks his future when he falls for a low-class waitress (IMDb).

Bette Davis appears miscast in early scenes, she struggles with a cockney accent, but her enormous, predatory eyes are well suited for the role. When she rails at her now-aloof benefactor, calling him a "gimpy-legged monster", she does so with a frightening intensity. Leslie Howard's gentle character is compared with that of fellow doctor Griffiths (Reginald Denny) and salesman Miller (Alan Hale). Mildred prefers these men because they are more like her, hedonistic and fun-loving. She is bored to tears by Howard, who prefers to spend his evenings serenely reading medical texts. Davis, in turn, is compared with beautiful, selfless wallflowers Sally (Frances Dee) and Norah (Kay Johnson), who throw themselves at the feet of Howard to little avail. The moral of the story seems to be that opposites attract, perhaps because we only want what is virtually impossible to have. Try as they might, our sensitive leads lack the pluck to simply take what they want instead of begging for it. Miller may be hopelessly shallow and conceited, but he is also more successful in his career. In early Hayes Code fashion, however, things do not work out as well for bad girl Mildred. (BK)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars

The Letter

Movie Review: The Letter

Year of Release: 1940
Country of Origin: USA
Director: William Wyler
Cast: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Gale Sondergaard

Plot outline: A woman claims to have killed a man in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence (IMDb).

W. Somerset Maugham's play was translated to the big screen by Casablanca's main scribe, Howard Koch; and while the story still retains classic film noir elements of adultery, murder, and guilt, The Letter also preserves a depiction of the English that's amusingly melodramatic: in spite of the emotional turmoil and mortal danger, Bette Davis (with an affected snotty accent) and weak-willed hubby Herbert Marshall remain tightly reserved; yet these veneers of wily restraint help maintain audience suspicion that every character seems to harbor a dark secret, best kept buried. (MRH)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars

The Nanny

Movie Review: The Nanny

Year of Release: 1965
Country of Origin: UK
Director: Seth Holt
Cast: Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett, William Dix

Plot outline: A disturbed young man, Joey, tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him (IMDb).

The Nanny is a rather quiet, cautious thriller that gives Bette Davis more room for characterization than most of her later movies. She does a marvelous job of keeping her psycho nature under control for the movie's first half. As a "barmy" governess hiding several dark secrets, she starts out with a benign expression under incredibly silly beetle brows, with subtle, sinister flashes of malignancy underneath her severe composure. Director Seth Holt lights her harshly, and lingers over the interesting, very British faces of the rest of the cast, especially William Dix's Joey. Holt creates an atmosphere of gray ominousness and is content to let his measured compositions build atmosphere, but when the plot revelations start, the movie's careful psychological detail is abandoned for melodrama, and Davis is filmed like a ghoul (or "Boris Karloff in skirts," as she once laughingly described herself in this period). The last scene is perfunctory and unbelievable, but the movie is worth seeing for its tense first half, and for Davis' carefully controlled performance of joyless, sometimes sadistic servitude. (DC, DS)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars