Now to savour it
Dvd reviews
There is hardly anyone who has not seen Slumdog Millionaire on the big screen, thanks to the tremendous hype it generated during its release. Now is the chance to take this movie home, and while there is a normal edition too, this Collector’s Edition is worth every rupee you spend on it.
The two-DVD set not only gives you the chance to savour the movie again and again, but also takes you behind the scenes, including into the mind of director Danny Boyle, as he shares his vision behind the film in a special chapter titled ‘Slumdog Dreams by Danny Boyle’.
You also have on this DVD access to a number of deleted scenes, and it is always interesting to watch scenes that are more often than not riveting but get chopped off on the editing table. Added attraction are the segments ‘The Making’ and ‘The Premiere’.
The Jamal-Latika love story, the details of which are too well known to be discussed here, and which fetched its makers eight Oscars, seven BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and 90 other awards is worth bringing home.
The unwashed phenomenon
Who, rather what, is Bob Dylan? Musician, balladeer, poet, social commentator, star, enigma, hero — what exactly is he? For all his fans, he is all of this, and maybe much more than this. And fans he has in legions all over the world.
So, when one plans a movie on the living legend, how does one approach it? — as a straight-forward, linearly told biopic, or as something that will capture the spirit of what Bob Dylan is all about. Todd Haynes chooses the second path, and comes up with I’m Not There (2007), a dramatic telling of Dylan’s life story through seven characters who in a sense are various phases of the singer’s life itself.
Cate Blanchett, who received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her role, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere are in the cast that delivers a memorable performance in this film that uses Hollywood paraphernalia but develops its own identity beyond a studio venture. I’m Not There is a film that is more about the spirit of Dylan than Dylan the person, and that’s where it scores.
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