Lion Review - a roaring success?

Lucy Thompson -

The film that recently earned Dev Patel a BAFTA, Lucy Thompson reviews

Lion tells the heart-wrenching true story of 5-year old Saroo (Sunny Pawar) who is separated from his family after falling asleep on a decommissioned train, finding himself in unfamiliar Calcutta.

In a scene of Dickensian cruelty, he is kicked and slapped by members of a crowded ticket queue, unable to speak Bengali and communicate where ‘home’ is. Saroo is forced to wander the bustling and unforgiving streets, evading child-snatchers and scavenging for food.

It’s every parent and child’s worst nightmare. He eventually finds shelter in an orphanage, leading him to be adopted by a loving couple from Australia (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham).

Sunny Pawar delivers one of the most powerful and moving performances from a child actor, rivalling the emotional complexity of Jacob Tremblay in last year’s Room. His desperate calls to his mother and brother ‘Guddu’ down the deserted train will leave you in tears.

It’s an immersive visual experience, from the jolting child’s perspective, to the magical aerial panoramas of the Indian landscape. Cinematographer Grieg Fraser succeeds in capturing the terror of a tiny boy swallowed up by the vastness of a frightening world.

Some have criticized the film for its tear-jerking predictability, but a film does not have to be complex in its storytelling to be compelling, and it never slips into lazy sentimentality
From the streets of Calcutta, the audience is then transported to the sandy shores of Tasmania where now adult Saroo (Dev Patel) lives with his adoptive family and adopted brother Mantosh. He is enrolled in a hospitality school, has a girlfriend called Lucy (Rooney Mara), and tells his friends he is ‘not really Indian’.

However, on seeing an Indian sweet Jalebi he is reminded of his brother Guddu and his humble beginnings. With help from Google Earth, the focus of the narrative becomes his search for identity and family that might be looking for him.

Nicole Kidman’s tender performance of loving mother losing her grip on her two adoptive sons is one of her best, clearly deriving from her own lived experience. She described Lion as a ‘love letter to my children who are adopted’. Comparatively, Rooney Mara feels a little underused in the role of a supportive girlfriend, given her ability.

The disadvantage of having such compelling opening is the high expectations it sets for the latter half of the film. Lion is at its apex in India, with the pace slightly wilting in Australia, as it is difficult to hold the drama with an online search.

However, this should not deter Lion (which is nominated for six Academy Awards) from being a serious contender in the awards race. Some have criticized the film for its tear-jerking predictability, but a film does not have to be complex in its storytelling to be compelling, and it never slips into lazy sentimentality. With a strong performance from Dev Patel, Lion is a unique contemplation on the difficulty of racial identity, family and finding our sense of ‘home’ in the world.

Featured Image: Flickr/ Disney | ABC Television Group

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