Slumdog Cities: Rethinking Subaltern Urbanism

Discuss about the Slumdog Cities: Rethinking Subaltern Urbanism.

The Martian was released on Oct 2, 2015. It was a Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation movie by director Ridley Scott (Zubrin, 2015). The Sci-Fi Drama, Adventure and Action film had PG-13 rating. The cast of the film was Matt Damon, Jeff Daniels, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara and Kristen Wiig. The plot of the story involved an unmanned mission to Mars which included Astronaut Mark Watney, role played by Matt Damon was assumed to be dead, after a fierce storm. The current discussion focuses on narrative on the film. The astronaut left behind by the crew survived and was found to be stranded at Mars, where the atmosphere was hostile. In such conditions, he has limited supplies of necessities and has to signal earth regarding that he is still alive. In order to bring him back to earth, NASA with its team of international scientists works along with his crewmates. Finally with his bravery, he is safely able to reach back the world.    

Slumdog Cities: Rethinking Subaltern Urbanis

The story is fascinating sci-fi action movie and extremely likable. It is a step forward for sci-fi films with significant combination of comedy. The cast and the set backdrop in which the film is played provide tremendous amount of joy to viewers. However the film does not offer many surprises (Metacritic). The characters play their role intensely to create the mood set for suspense and Damon’s role is spectacular in nature.   

The director arouses curiosity when a way emerges for Damon to contact the earth from Mars. The film’s formal system depicts development of the script in a gradual manner. The role of Damon is most crucial in the movie as he plays the central role, providing direction in the movie. The motifs in the movie are the plot that is set at Mars, in the color backdrop. The camera movement and depiction of anxiety creates suspense and a sense of thrill in the movie. The worldwide film release went on to earn $630 million globally and has won various awards as well.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire released in theatres on 30^th August 2008. Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Simon Beaufoy, it is a Fox Searchlight Pictures release (Roy, 2011). The movie’s box office collection was $ 141, 243, 551. The scope of the current discussion focuses on narration of the film.

The plot of the movie is of Jamal Malik, who is an 18 year old orphan from Mumbai slums who experiences the biggest day in his life where he wins one crore Indian Rupees. The plot develops with showing backdrops of life of Jamal. He attends a popular show where he gets chance to win a million, but tragedy strikes and there is a twist in the plot when the night before he gets arrested by the police on suspecting cheating. Everyone being surprised at the knowledge and wits of the boy is curious as to how a slum dweller could know so much. At this juncture the movie starts to provide backdrops where the boy tells the story of his life in the slum where he grew up. Narrating each bit he reveals how and why he had to learn the hard way answers to the questions that he attempted there. He reveals his love with a girl Latika and how he lost here, his encounter with local goons. Each phase of his life reveals one answer to the game show’s question (Mendes, 2010). Then finally on the day of the show, he is released by the police and he goes on to receive the prize money.

The plot develops and the director creates and retains interests by showing off the past experience. The well connected and coordinated storyline is appreciated by viewers. The film has high energy levels as it contains some scenes of violence and wildness. The director reveals the suffering in the slum, orphans, organised crime, poverty, enslavement, police and brutality to give a sense of realism to the movie. The movie very well depicts the cruelties of the world with problems such as sadness, lovelessness and cynicism. The transform from poverty to richness through journey of the boy is well narrated in the story. The director turns critical when the boy loses the love of his life and also when he gets arrested by the police. This keeps the audience in suspense as to what will happen next. The movie has won several awards and is regarded as a good cinematography.

References

Mendes, A. C. (2010). Showcasing India Unshining: Film Tourism in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. Third Text, 24(4), 471-479. Accessed from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09528822.2010.491379

Metacritic. Metascore. Retrieved on 12^th Nov 2018 from https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-martian

Roy, A. (2011). Slumdog cities: Rethinking subaltern urbanism. International journal of urban and regional research, 35(2), 223-238.  Accessed from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2011.01051.x

Zubrin, Dr. R. (2015, Oct 6). How scientifically accurate is the Martian? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/06/how-scientifically-accurate-is-the-martian