★★★★½

23 November 2016

A movie review of LION.

By Hemanth Kissoon

Seen at the London Film Festival 2016. (For more information, click here.)

“I have to find my way back home,” Saroo (Dev Patel)
 
Opening high in the air, a striking example of god’s eye camerawork made popular by LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, it is not just an attention-grabber (though props to cinematographer Greig Fraser (KILLING THEM SOFTLY, SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN)), it represents a multitude of ideas:
- The vastness of the landscape, which will make the Herculean task of the lead all the more impressive,
- The frustrations of hindsight,
- The spiritual - someone watching over the subject,
- The technological – satellite view of the world, and
- The human, like MARGARET, the feeling this is just one story out of a myriad if the camera zoomed down to any populated location.
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​The title, one guesses while watching, before the end revelation, could refer to the mane-like hair of older Saroo (Dev Patel), or his courage. (Contrast Nicole Kidman’s comedy wigs.) The ordeal undergone by five-year old Saroo (Sunny Pawar – delivering an accomplished performance) is strenuous on an empathetic audience. LION is not structured as expected. The big name cast is held off for a long time. The cut to 20-something Saroo is not as grandiose as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’s legendary juxtaposition, but it certainly is bold.
 
1986, India, Kamla (Priyanka Bose) is raising three young children by herself. Poverty is so stark that she works as a manual labourer in a quarry and struggles to feed the four of them. The two boys, older Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) and younger Saroo, work and hustle to supplement their kind mother’s income. One night Guddu and Saroo are separated, with the latter falling asleep on an unoccupied train that is heading to Calcutta, 1600 kilometres away.
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​1980s India is shown to be a formidable place for someone so young. The sheer volume of people astounds. A five year old lost in a metropolis full of begging children and an inured, indifferent population. He doesn’t even communicate in the local language – speaking Hindi and not Bengali. If you are somehow not horrified by this scenario, don’t forget, this is based on a true story. What were you doing at five? I was playing with STAR WARS toys. Fending for himself, he amazingly has his wits about him – a seeming sixth sense to danger and a plethora of predators. This opening section of the film is an arduous watch. The hazards are so creepy. Remember the overblown RUNNING SCARED (2006)? This is grounded in reality.
 
The suggestions of what happens to some of these youngsters are nightmarish. Saroo does not know the name of his mother. Finally coming into the sphere of the police, a newspaper notice is placed. What are the odds of his community seeing it? What have the authorities to go on?
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​Ending up in a grim orphanage, LION could have been dour stuff; rather it showcases two miraculous events:
- Being adopted by a loving, well off Australian couple, Sue (Nicole Kidman) and John (David Wenham), given opportunities he would unlikely have had, and
- The uplifting search for his Indian family.
 
The movie hints at tough topics, without being preachy – inequality, abuse, over overpopulation, survivor guilt, etc. LION spans a quarter of a century, and you will have a lump in your throat come the ending. It is beautiful looking and beautiful sounding. (This maybe facetious, but it’s a far more effective advert for Google than THE INTERNSHIP.)

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