Customer Reviews

Slumdog Millionaire: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script)

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I was amazed by the movie, but hadn't appreciated how much Simon Beaufoy had to do with the brilliance of the movie. When you read the script and the essays about the making of it, it's apparent that it's the writer who's the brains behind this flick.

Simon Beaufoy's screenplay is captured in its entirety in a fine film survey suitable for any library strong in film and media studies, or drama. This fine script presentation includes not just the complete shooting script, but extensive discussion with the film's director Danny Boyle, color photos, and complete cast credits and details. Perfect for film libraries.

This is a review of the film's script, not the film itself. Apart from Frost/Nixon and Doubt, this is easily among the most gripping scripts of the year, and unlike Revolutionary Road or Doubt, it is quite a chromatic departure from the novel that inspired it. Kudos to Simon Beaufoy's endeavor. It's evident that much of the this film's breakneck sizzle came from its writing, and it only gets more layered when you read the screenplay.

The Newmarket series has become a bit like the book version of the "DVD extras". These scripts include interesting tidbits ranging from introductions by people involved to color stills from the sets. This should explain why the script is triple the price of, say, the original novel. It's a worthy purchase for anyone who's looking at this page to begin with.

Slumdog Millionaire sets a new bar for a great movie/story. Although the underlying plot is typical (boy meet girl, boy lost girl, boy search for girl, boy find girl, boy lost girl again, boy meet girl again, then either happy or sad ending), and "flashback" type of movie has been done a lot before (Memento, Usual Suspect etc), the overall experience watching Slumdog Millionaire is very fresh. While the movie seems to move very fast, literally (ala Bourne Identity), it explains every details that are important (especially to answer all the questions that exists in the movie). Except one question which I don't think is explained well, on how he is able to get in the Millionaire show. My guess is that because he know what is the optimal way to get through the call center (to call when the host say the word "If").

There are a lot of things happening in the movie (besides the typical plot that I mentioned above, but I don't want to mention the detail as I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't watch the movie).

This movie will keep you at the edge of your seat, with its fast moving, extreme situations (the slum, and the life as beggars), and intriguing questions. Slumdog Millionaire will keep you guessing (for answers, both on the answer of the question asked in the "Millionaire" shows, as well as the question on how he knows the answer). And with all the tragedy and poor condition/quality of life, these people are still able to find some humor (and friendship and love) which helps them to keep going. The acting are also very good and very convincing.

This movie/story should win many awards (and very well deserved too)
The soundtrack of this movie is also amazing (mainly M.I.A. and A.R. Rahman). O.. Saya, Jai Ho, and 2 versions of Paper Planes..