The true story of Saroo Brierley, who got lost as a child in India, was adopted by an Australian family, and went searching for his birth mother as an adult.
BIOPIC/DRAMA
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Lion (2016)Directed by Garth Davis
Written by Luke Davies Starring Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Rooney Mara, Sunny Pawar, Deepti Naval, Divian Ladwa Based on the book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley Oscar Nominations - Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Dev Patel), Best Supporting Actress (Nicole Kidman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score (Dustin O'Halloran and Volker Bertelmann) |
Lion is a very heartwarming and inspirational story that showcases the strength and resilience of love in the perfect way. In the late 80's, a little Indian boy named Saroo got on the wrong train and ended up 1200 miles away from his village. He didn't know where he was and he didn't know how to get back. He ended up in an orphanage with a hundred other lost kids, and was eventually adopted by a kindhearted Australian family. When he grew up, he did whatever he could to find his village and his birth mother, so she would know that he was okay. It doesn't get much more touching than that.
The first half of the film follows Saroo as a child, played fantastically by young Sunny Pawar. He escapes so many potentially horrifying situations and ends up with good people who loved him. Once we get a "20 Years Later" title card, we follow Dev Patel as grownup Saroo, now in college and remembering bits of who he used to be. His parents are played by Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, and they are lights out as well. The film is very well-cast and well-told, though it does drag a bit in the middle when Saroo becomes obsessed and lets everything around him suffer because of it. Lion tells a very real story of one boy's struggle for survival on the streets of Calcutta and how the kindness of others gave him a chance at a new life. The film's end credits remind us how many children in India weren't as lucky as Saroo, and over 80,000 kids never escape the streets. Lion is the kind of film that makes you take stock of your life and be thankful for the people that you do have. Saroo's story could've turned out much differently had somebody not felt the need to help a lonely, scared child. |