A few years ago, I probably wouldn't have even thought about watching Lion. Its a true story, but it's got subtitles for half of it, and you already know the ending, and you know its going to be all emotions and not much action. But then, a few years ago, I didn't even like films...
Since 2014, I've tried to see the big budget, big award nominated films, and January is a great time to cram them all in before the Oscars. So seeing that Lion is up for a few awards for 2017, I was really intrigued to see what it was about.
As you probably already know, the story follows a 5 year old boy in India, Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who gets separated from his older brother in the middle of the night. He searches for him, ending up on an out of service sleeper train, which takes him 1500 miles away, to a station in Calcutta. He is now in a country where he doesn't know anyone and doesn't speak the language, and now is fighting to live, as well as find his family. We follow his story, until he gets adopted by an Australian family, and from then, we learn about how Saroo continues his search for his mother into adulthood (Dev Patel).
I enjoyed the film much more than I was expecting (it's 2 hours long, and I wasn't clock watching one bit!). As I mentioned before, the first half of the film is subtitled as all the speaking is in Hindi and Bengali, but I only realised about an hour in that I'd been reading for so long. I felt immersed in the story and the subtitles were not a distraction at all (as I sometimes find). Pawar was absolutely incredible in his debut film - I know Patel is up for an Oscar for supporting role, but I feel like Pawar was the real star of the show. He's got a great acting career ahead of him! That's not to dispute Patel's acting in the film, he worked really well as the character, and I feel like both Pawar and Patel must have worked closely together because the two parts of the story work really well together. Nicole Kidman was also wonderful as Saroo's adopted mother, securing herself an Oscar nomination too. You really see the emotions she is experiencing through adopting a child from the 3rd world, and then the journey Saroo takes.
The entire film was an emotional roller coaster, I cried so much at the end I smudged my eyeliner, much to the delight of my pals. Part of me thinks the film should be more than a PG, as if I watched it as a kid I think I would be heart broken. I feel like the actors, directors and production team did a really good job in terms of bringing this true story to life. At the end we see video footage of the real family, and I think it's a really nice touch.
I did find some parts of the film a little cheesy, and unbelievable, despite it being based on the truth, and I can understand how if you don't connect with the emotional aspect of the film, you may not enjoy it. It isn't a particularly fast paced film.
Overall, I'm really glad I watched the film, and think there may even be an Oscar in it - be it for Patel, Kidman, or the cinematography (it's up for 5 altogether). It's so strange seeing Patel grow from being one of everyone's favourite Skins characters, to his role in Slumdog Millionaire, to becoming Saroo, and it's a great testiment to his acting skill. I give Lion an 8.5/10, definitely worth a watch (but remember the tissues).
No comments:
Post a Comment