Slumdog millionaire analysis

Slumdog millionaire is a very successful movie as it represents the westernisation and the dicersity that has occured in india over a period of time. At the beginning of the movie we see the more traditional time period of india and that is accuratly shown through the props and mise en scene in the movie, as it shows the conditions and facilities that india had at her disposal.

At the beginning of the trailer, the indians are represented as being rich and in the possesion of alot of money with the shot of all of the money dropping to the floor in a manner as if to show just how much money can change Jamal's life. The movie represents India as being very westernised and very up to date with the game show 'who wants to be a millionaire', which is a british television programme. Posing the question as to whether 'jamal' was lucky or it was his destiny to win the money, gets the audience thinking and puts them in the spotlight to make a decision. The various shots of masses of people in the trailer shows the unity that the country has and the conditions in one of the shots, showing poverty, shows that even the poor community is united and stands together.

The shots of him as a child are the shots that represent india and the indian people as the 'other' as the shots show the indians to be very barbaric, as they are killing each other, obviously for a reason however that reason is unknown to the audience. Going along with the shots of the characters as children, it shows the slums and the full extent of the conditions that the indians had to face when facing poverty with even the children being on the run and having their mums and dads killed right infront of the eyes. In contrast to the bad representations, even during the time of slavery and the running away of the children, the trailer still shows the kids having fun and laughing, showing the innocence of the children and that even in hard times, they still manage to have fun. The shot of 'latika' being left behind on the train is a possible connotation to the fact that indians have been left behind and have been placed in a separate catergory, as being the others.

Some of the stereotypes of the indian community have been subversed making specific reference to the shot of the two main characters at the end finding each other and falling in love, showing that the indians are a nation of love and caring for each other, in response to the stereotypes of them being barbaric and not being loving towards each other. In Danny Boyle's clip he talks about india being a great place to go and visit and that is one of the attractions to the indian community, which is that the country itself is a great place to go and visit and he aims to show the people of india as having aspirations with jamal going on a game show to try and win some money. Danny Boyle says that 'you can't stop the motion in india because it is constant motion and constant moving all of the time' and that describes india as being a very active country where alot of activity takes place, which is one of the reasons why india is such a great toursist attracion for everybody around the world.