Academy Award-winning director Danny Boyle has confessed that Slumdog Millionaire, the 2008 international phenomenon that brought him eight Oscars, could never be made today in the cultural environment — and he thinks that's a good thing.
Boyle spoke to The Guardian in an interview where he reflected on what the world has changed since the film came out, which was widely praised around the world but also later criticized for its depiction of Indian poverty.
We couldn't do that now. And that's the way it should be. It is time to look back over all of that. We need to examine the cultural baggage we travel with and the footprint that we've left on the world," Boyle stated.
The British drama, starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto, tells the gripping tale of Jamal Malik, a teenager from Mumbai’s slums who becomes a contestant on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, with each question revealing a chapter from his life story. The film became a cultural phenomenon and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director, at the 81st Academy Awards in 2009.
When questioned if the film could be interpreted as cultural colonialism today, Boyle provided a complicated answer. "No, no… Well, only in the sense that everything is," he said. "It felt radical at the time. We determined that only a few of us would travel to Mumbai. We'd employ a large Indian crew and attempt to make a film inside the culture.". But you're still an outsider. It's still a flawed method."
Boyle went on to admit that today, he would not even try to lead such a project nor get it approved.
"Such cultural appropriation may be okay at some times. But at some times it cannot. I mean, I'm proud of the film, but you would not even consider doing something like that now. It would not even get funding. Even if I were involved, I'd be seeking a young Indian filmmaker to direct it," he elaborated.
Aside from Patel and Pinto, Slumdog Millionaire also starred Rubina Ali, Anil Kapoor, and the late Irrfan Khan in supporting roles. Notwithstanding its acclamation, however, the film has ignited ongoing controversy over representation and storytelling between cultures.
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