Slumdog Millionaire Narrative Close-Up (Closing Sequence)

(01:36:06 - end) . God this film lasted a while…

Overview

The closing sequence brings about the closing of all of the narrative ‘strands’, the end of a (relatively) circular narrative. It ends with a ridiculously long dance sequence, a statement piece meant to replicate typical ‘bollywood’ style film endings.

We firstly see Latika’s escape from Jhaved Khan and her journey to reuniting with Jamal, and the role that Salim had in her new life. It serves as a very swift redemption for the character of Salim, as he eats to make up for all of the wrongs he has committed against Latika and his brother over the years.

Breakdown…

(I was going to do this in sections by key element, but to me it made more sense to see it as one…)

We open this closing sequence with a shot of Latika in the shadows of a room. An audience can understand that this represents the darkness of Khan that Latika is currently forced to live under.

We see cuts from Salim to close ups of Latika’s scar, and this creates a connection and reminder that Salim is responsible. We clearly are building up here to an interaction between these two characters that will have a significant role in their relationship and that is linked to the creation of the scar.

When Khan’s “enforced partying” begins, we see Latika and Salim both sideline themselves. This distraction provides the time for Latika to get away and for Salim to begin to rebel against Khan, an action that would lead to his subsequent death. The camera follows them almost exclusively, occasionally cutting back to Khan to show his obliviousness.

When Salim has done his princesssaving for the day, we see Latika pick up her yellow scarf, a repeated symbol of her hope and light, that has been seen earlier in the film.

Slowly, we begin to reintroduce the parallel editing that we saw at the beginning of the film, beginning with the set up of Salim’s death and Latika’s escape. We see the police station, with its oppressive yellow colouring, and we understand that the film is coming full circle, the threads are matching up again.

This time, instead of a high energy chase through the slums, we focus on the chase/escape of Latika and Jamal’s journey back to the studio.

We see long shots of Mumbai and closer shots of citizens watching the show through shop windows. This highlights the importance of a regular Slumdog being able to win an insane amount of money, and the scale of the support for Jamal among the people of Mumbai.

When asked the final question, Jamal has a moment of contemplation over the final answer. We see that in lessons, Jamal never paid attention. We understand that Latika has always been the ‘third musketeer’ for their little family. It’s almost a metaphor for how he never paid attention to it before he met her, so he could never know the answer to this question, but he knows that if he would lose he would call his other musketeers to lose by his side.

In this moment, the film toys with our shared understanding of how the gameshow works, because at the time it is set, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was really popular. This is the only reason that Boyle can use this structure, and why we understand what phone-a-friend means.

The phone ringing and the clock ticking dominate the mix, as they establish a lack of time that builds the pressure and tension of the moment.

After Latika says her name, we see analepsis back to the beginning of her story. We see the same sequence from the opening of the film, and we finally have more context. We understand that the scattering of money in the bathtub was really Salim’s brave sacrifice.

Jamal, Latika, Salim, Jhaved, Mumbai, all of India. Everyone comes together, and yet the audience are still not confused. Long shots show how vast and normal the people are who wish for Jamal to win, yet they don’t stand out very well because they aren’t imperative in this moment.

The fast score reaches a crescendo when Salim dies and Jamal wins (simultaneously). This shows the contrast between the two lives that the brothers lived, and how despite being raised the same way, their endings are different due to their choices.

Interestingly, the final shot of Salim is him saying God is great, matched to Jamal looking to the sky, almost as if Jamal understood the sacrifice it took for Latika to be safe.

Then a coda; a section of the film after the ‘end’ that just provides extra information.

We are treated to a shot of the Grand station in Mumbai. Jamal is at the train station, fulfilling his promise and he’s sad until Latika’s is there.

We see a glance-object-shot, in whichwe see him looking, then her just being there. (Ethereally.)

She looks vaguely princessy.

Here, the diegetic sound is very low in the mix and the nondiegetic score takes over; a romantic tune, something peaceful after their life of chaos.

Obviously there’s a cliche ending, where the boy and girl relive their trials, and kiss.

But… Danny boyle is weird.

He plays bits of it in reverse.

Like all the bad stuff is being rewound, undone so that they can live in peace.He keeps all the canted angle, providing a very shallow depth of vision, accompanied by lens flare and artificial light. It looks blown out and dreamlike, just the like opening scene with Latika.

We are then treated to a freeze-frame of them kissing for an uncomfortably long time, and the film fades to black.

All that is left t the superimposed text “D: it is written”, bringing back the question from the very opening sequence, and bringing about the final closing of the narrative structure.

Until there’s a very long dance and credit scene, for the our reason that it was typical of Bollywood films, and that YouTube flash mobs were a huge thing back then.