So, after seeing a sci-fi flick, and an epic historical legend type movie, I went for a complete change of pace in the third and final installment of by Bangkok movie trilogy, by seeing Lion
Lion is the film adaption of Saroo Brierley's memoir, a Long Way Home. Its quite an extraordinary tale, that had many in the audience openly weeping at its sadness and I guess, in another way, triumph.
Basically a very young Saroo (I think he is about 5 yo) accidentally gets on a wrong train and end up separated from his family and ending in Calcutta, 1600km away from his home. Unable to properly pronounce his home town, nor know his mother's name, and he is also unable to speak the local language (Begali). After avoiding trouble for a few months he ends up in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by an Australian couple, played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham (who seem to be slipping very well into such roles at this stage of their careers - solid performances by both), and moves to Hobart.
FF many years later and Saroo as a man in his late 20s, and moves to Melbourne where an extremely serendipitous moment, leads him in a spiral to want to find his roots. Google Earth has just come online (its around 2008 by now), and, well, I don't want to spoil it further but the ending is rather special.
Saroo is played well by Dev Patel, who does an Aussie accent better than most Aussies. You forget after watching him in movies like this and Slumdog Millionaire that he is actually British as. I think Dev's star is still on the rise. Rooney Mara, who I also rate, plays his girlfriend (although er character is American so doesn't have to try the accent).
Movies like this remind me that Aussie are good story tellers, whether they be fiction (like, say, Red Dog), or based on a true story. I know big blockbusters have their place, and I also enjoy them from time to time, but in a movie world full of comic book, video games, sequels, prequels, franchises etc, this film , for me, is a real standout.
So CD's going to rate this an 8.5/10.