Feeling good?
A warning: Slumdog Millionaire, the new film from Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle about the Mumbai kid who reaches the final stages of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, is being heavily marketed as "the feel-good film of the decade", after a quote from the News Of The World. It swept the Golden Globes, which is great news for the British film industry - or the Indian film industry, anyway - and it's a terrific film: cleverly structured, well-acted especially by the younger actors, fast and furious. However, it is not a feel-good film.This poster literally mis-sells it, with its bright Bollywood pinks and oranges, celebratory, romantic image and colourful tickertape shower. It looks like Bend It Like Beckham, which really was a feel-good film. This is a film about abject poverty, torture, corruption, religious violence, mutilation, child prostitution, crime, guns and the dehumanising aspects of capital growth and urban development. It is brave for being about all those things, but I wonder how many people are going to pay their money to see one film and end up seeing another. (Yes, yes, I know it's good when a "difficult" subject reaches a wider audience, but surely the filmmakers wouldn't want that to happen under false pretences?) I recommend Slumdog Millionaire, but ignore that stupid poster.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 8:23 AM
19 Comments
Contact
Andrew at
19 Comments:
Got to agree with you here. I think it's a wonderful, magical movie and, trying not to give anything away, I can see why some might possibly call it "feel good". However, what comes before, and the vast majority of the story, is hard-going and doesn't shy away from showing you difficult or upsetting things.
It reminds me a great deal of Trainspotting in that regard. There are some scenes in that movie that are utterly horrible yet I know people who call it a "comedy", and it undeniably has funny scenes in it but it's not what I would call a "comedy".
So while I can see why someone would call Slumdog a "feel good movie", I don't agree with that either.
A friend of mine asked if I wanted to go and see it. I couldn't make it anyway (and when being asked if I wanted to go and see Slumdog Millionaire I wasn't sure if it was a band or a film or something completely different). But I have since seen an advert for it making heavy use of that quote and I decided I was quite glad I hadn't gone. But perhaps I was wrong.
It certainly does show that I'm most definitely influenced by adverts, though maybe not in the correct way.
That is an equally valid point, Jack - that people might be put off by the poster, pre-judging the film to be a piece of fluff, which it most certainly isn't.
I realise that not everybody reads the reviews, so posters and adverts - and the quotes used on them - are a vital link between film and punter. (Word of mouth is still probably the safest bet in this regard.)
I've read the book, Q&A, that it's based on - which I loved but was pretty unremitting in its portrayal of all the things you mention. Decided the film wasn't for me based on the events in the book - but if I'd seen the poster first I wouldn't have thought that...
They did the same thing with 'East is East' - marketed as a frothy comedy, but actually a fairly serious drama.
I'm sure the folks in marketing would argue that as long as people come to see the film it doesn't matter, but they're wrong. I now dislike 'East is East' because it failed to deliver on its promises. I bought a light comedy and I got an earnest film about the struggles of a muslim father to cope in modern Britain.
Seeing Slumdog Millionnaire being sold with almost exactly the same tone, is there some sort of strange stereotyping going on - do the marketing people think that a general audience will only see an 'asian' film if it's all bright colours and Bollywood? Well, yes, they probably do. That's why they're in marketing. Bill Hicks was right.
We saw it of saturday and it's a really good film (see my post for fully thoughts) but it's only a feel good movie in that exciting and engaging films make you film better. Even the ending isn't even a cut and dried "feel good".
Mark kermode crystalised it somewhat by pointing out it's a "classic fable" just in a modern setting.
Forget the feel good tag this is good enjoyable film which does show the violence and hardship of poverty but isn't "worthy".
This I think is what has confused the pr people, they couldn't square the circle that it's a enjoyable film about poor people rather than say a middle class romcom (which is usually what "feel good" moves are about) that or old men riding motorbikes or talking sheep pigs.
I felt the last half of the film, as the children have grown into young adults, actually betrays the excellent opening stages.
Initially it's about brutalised youngsters but it veers off, towards the end, into fairytale feelgood nonsense. I'll admit I welled up at the end, but still, it's two separate entities glued together.
So I can see why it's being marketed this way. Boyle himself has said it is an issue, for him, but he would, as it's his film. The sad fact is, it's not a particularly deep movie and it's let down a little by the romantic ending which has far too little substance. The love-interest barely had a line in the whole film.
I was still blown away by the picture - the cinematography alone makes it head and shoulders above all other releases from the past few months.
I agree with you about the awful poster. Had I not wanted to see the film for some time the marketing would certainly put me off.
Hey Andrew,
off topic-time for me now, but I don't have your email address, just wanted to say thanks for passing on the Adam & Jo latest via the blog. Big cheer. B
I think the feel-good factor for me is seeing a brilliant young British actor from Skins, Dev Patel, making it big in Hollywood...or is that Bollywood, I get confused.
It's nearly as bad as the Sweeney Todd trailer, which avoided advertising the fact that it's an opera, quite possibly on purpose. I imagined the groans emanating from cinema audiences about three minutes in, as Johnny Depp fans realised that he'd be doing that all the way through.
Marketing types. Don't you love 'em?
Jon
And a very enjoyable Post Golden Globes turn on Front Row.
And I have to agree with Jim Lynn regarding East Is East, I was all up for a feel good tale, and got something completely different.
It's all in the marketing.
The poster is basically the same is that for "Bend It Like Beckham" a few years back.
Is it just the marketing company way of promoting the "film with Indian lead" to the general public?
Here's a comment about the film I read this morning:
"I felt like killing myself after this movie"
There's one for the poster.
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but "abject poverty, torture, corruption, religious violence, mutilation, child prostitution, crime, guns and the dehumanising aspects of capital growth and urban development" tick nearly all my boxes. If it had Alfie Bass in it, we'd have the full house.
When I first heard about this film, I assumed it was going to be marketed towards the (I'd imagine quite large) audience who are interested in Bollywood films, but due to the lack of reviews wouldn't know where to start. Myself being one of them.
I guess the quote "the feelgood movie of the decade" was too good for marketers to ignore.
That said, your description makes it sound like Salaam Bombay! which if you haven't seen it I really recommend.
Rich
I remember Muriel's Wedding being marketed as feel-good. Most of the time it's really miserable - One of Muriel's parents commits suicide, her best friend is paralysed, her own marriage is a sham.
It's a good film but I remember the people I watched it with all saying 'this isn't the feel-good movie we were promised!'.
Where's the 'Bumped' post gone? Did I dream that?
You didn't dream it, Stephen, I just got cold feet about revealing too much about the inner workings of one of my current employers. I'll put it back it up when I've had time to reconfigure the wording slightly. We live in paranoid times.
Also, the mouse on my MacBook has stopped working (clicking has no effect), so I'm going to be offline for a bit while I get it remedied - I'm writing this from another PC.
Post a Comment
<< Home