Narrative and Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is one story told in three different ways. This is done through a series of flashbacks and makes the audience work out the present and the past. As the story is told Jamal’s interrogation scenes are the present day as he has continuous flashbacks of his time on the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire as well as watching his time on the show, during his time in the game show he also has continuous flashbacks of his childhood which separates then from now and give a time frame of about ten years. The difference with this narrative is that all three storylines meet up at the end of the film and create the resolution and lead to the iconic kiss scene. The film can be seen as conventional as well as unconventional through its narrative structure and genre conventions, all three stories are interwoven and create an alternative narrative structure, the difference with this is all three story lines are about the same character. This film is very unconventional and can be considered portmanteau as the audience are in anticipation of hot Jamal knows the answers and each answer acts as its on mini conclusion to that chapter of his life, they also work as action codes as each answer moves him onto the next one and the next part of his life. This works as the film works in a series of episodes whereby each question becomes the title of the next episode. In addition to this the questions asked by Prem also work as action codes kick-starting the next part of the story, ironically the answers Jamal gives are enigma codes forcing the audience to ask more questions and intrigue them further. Another reason this film can be considered portmanteau is that the flashbacks work as vignettes as they are moments in time that represent the moving forward of the story, in addition the film is comprised of seemingly unrelated stories about Jamal’s life which hang on a framework of his relationship with Latika, this then means the audience are encouraged to create meaning of the stories and answers. On the other hand, although the film can be considered portmanteau it cannot be ignored that the film is extremely generic in its way of telling a classic romantic story as the characters used are typical stock characters as shown by Propp’s character types: Latika as princess, Jamal as hero and Salim a villain. In addition, the plot is conventional as it is simply boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy fights to get her back and wins against all odds. The plot of Slumdog millionaire can be applied to Todorov’s theory as the equilibrium would be three children from the slums who are best friends who are forced to survive on their own, the disruption would be Maman taking them to sing for him which leads to the recognition where they try to escape and Latika is taken from them resulting in the separation of the three, the attempt to repair would be Jamal’s fight to win her back and be with her once again. Finally, the new equilibrium would be Salim sacrificing his life so they can be together and Jamal and Latika finally finding each other and being together once again. This is extremely liner as the whole story works as cause and effect as each scene and event was caused by the previous and continues to do so up until the last minute. 
The film Slumdog Millionaire’s unusual structure can be seen to reveal the
themes of the film and show ideological message that the audience are encourages to figure out such as the theme of status, power and masculinity the opening shot of the money being scattered in the bath to then later be revealed that it is Salim’s death bead shows how too much power and money can result in a corrupt person and also a corrupt society, this is also reinforced by Prem as he is in constant fear that Jamal will replace him and it is a constant battle for control between the two. The narrative structure also reveals conventional themes such as fate and destiny through the final kiss scene at the end and the reverse flashback before they meet to show every step brought them closer and all the heartache was worth it.  Overall the narrative devices used in this film help establish themes and flesh out the characters to show us who they are and how over time they have changed and became who they are in that present moment. Although the structure is non-linear and can be seen to challenge audience expectations the film is very conventional and many of the things that happen are typical of the romantic drama genre and can be expected.