I know I should be thinking more about the recent children’s book award winners. Instead, I’ve been thinking a lot about Slumdog Millionaire.  (I was glad to see it nominated for an Oscar!) One thing I especially like about the movie is its literary structure. I love that it starts in medias res (the protagonist is getting slapped by the police), and after that great hook to get the story going, we slip backward to the recent past to catch us up to the present. Then the whole movie is structured so that there is a romance/gangster story told in chronological flashbacks with each flashback tied to a question in the Indian version of So You Want to Be a Millionaire. Finally, I love the way the director/writer handled the climax of the movie. About half-way through the movie the kids come face to face with their tormentor. Now this may seem like the climax, but it isn’t—it’s simply the crisis before the climax. Once we’ve gotten past that high point, we see the dangerous mountain that’s looming behind it—the real climax—the crisis between the two brothers. It’s a very satisfying movie on many levels. I highly recommend it for writers, as well as movie lovers.

 

Ciao!

Shutta