Slumdog Millionaire Wins Oscar - Great Way to Tell a Story

Happy Monday, all!

“Slumdog Millionaire” took best picture (along with many other awards) last night at the Oscars. For those of you who haven’t seen this yet, GO. It does have some disturbing scenes (just a warning for those who are somewhat squeamish) but this is one of the best films I’ve seen recently.

Why?

* The storytelling method is incredible. I would encourage writers of any kind to go see this film on that fact alone. This could have been told in several ways, and it would have made the film entirely different. It’s the WAY the story is told which thrilled me. Begin thinking of that when you’re writing a scene for your screenplay, novel, or short story. Are you telling the story in the best way possible? What other options could you try? Is there a way to increase the stakes by doing something just a bit different?

* Because it’s a great story of a little Indie film which almost went directly to video, but instead got distribution in tough times. Now it’s won Best Picture 2008 along with many other awards which I can’t remember this early in the morning. We all love underdog stories; the film’s storyline is an underdog story, but so is the filmmaking process for this movie. Go see it!

I also loved “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and was pleased to see it won some awards. The one thing I remember saying at the closing credits of “Slumdog Millionaire” is that, “Wow. That was an incredible way to take information and tell a story.”

Check it out!