Movies of the Year, Part I

This is going to take a while mainly because I have not seen many of the contenders. But I have one that I know will be near the top of the list, if not the top of the list – Slumdog Millionaire. Danny Boyle, the man who gave us Trainspotting, manages to morph into a Bollywood director. But the songs and the dancing get lost in transit. What does arrive is a movie that one could deem staggeringly linear but with many detours along the way. While it eschews many of the standard Bollywood elements it does capture its essence, a man and woman in love facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles with tragedy or joy being equally likely outcomes or perhaps even co-existent outcomes. The narrative style is original beyond compare, and the insight into the New India culture and the widening rich/poor gap, as well as the caste structure morphing into a mafia culture, are some of the many gems this movie so generously offers. And, oh yes, a song and dance finally arrives.