Boyle portrays realistic slum scenes in 'Millionaire'
Tyler Pietz
Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
"I went to India and researched it, and you could tell that the writing was real. I feel very at home with realism but I'm also optimistic," Boyle said.
Indeed, despite the film having some undeniably fantastical elements, the movie doesn't abandon its realism-the Bollywood dance sequence at the end notwithstanding.
The film has an inexplicable intensity to it, partially due to its ambitious cinematography but also in large part because of the intimacy of sets on which the scenes were shot. Since the crew that Boyle brought from L.A. consisted only of 10, he relied heavily on local crews for principal photography. Boyle made it clear that he wanted to integrate himself with the shots, saying that the presence of large crews were tantamount to "invasions" that disrupted the integrity of the location.
"You have these street scenes that actually feel like real streets. It can be a very generous place to film if you go about it the right way," Boyle described.
However, the crowded city didn't always make things easier.
"Continuity, forget it. We would go to a location and shoot and come back, and it would be unrecognizable."
"Slumdog" is certainly something of an anomaly. Its energy and ability to paint such vivid yet believable polarization between evil and good, rich and poor, luck and misfortune, give it an emotional edge that is often strived for but rarely achieved in modern cinema.
Indeed, despite the film having some undeniably fantastical elements, the movie doesn't abandon its realism-the Bollywood dance sequence at the end notwithstanding.
The film has an inexplicable intensity to it, partially due to its ambitious cinematography but also in large part because of the intimacy of sets on which the scenes were shot. Since the crew that Boyle brought from L.A. consisted only of 10, he relied heavily on local crews for principal photography. Boyle made it clear that he wanted to integrate himself with the shots, saying that the presence of large crews were tantamount to "invasions" that disrupted the integrity of the location.
"You have these street scenes that actually feel like real streets. It can be a very generous place to film if you go about it the right way," Boyle described.
However, the crowded city didn't always make things easier.
"Continuity, forget it. We would go to a location and shoot and come back, and it would be unrecognizable."
"Slumdog" is certainly something of an anomaly. Its energy and ability to paint such vivid yet believable polarization between evil and good, rich and poor, luck and misfortune, give it an emotional edge that is often strived for but rarely achieved in modern cinema.
Be the first to comment on this story