Lion (2016)
Finding your biological roots.
Presentation:
Ripped apart from his family in India at a tender age, Dev Patel’s character fortunately ends up living a privileged life in Australia because of his lovingly adoptive parents. But sometimes you have unresolved questions and want to find your real biological parents. Greg Frasier utilizes mostly natural light in his earlier career to portray a more organic coming of age drama. He makes India actually seem more romantic and full of life compared to the sterile and comfortable life in Australia through the use of moodier, dramatic lighting and color grading. It’s actually quite jarring and ends up feeling like two different movies, or like they changed cinematographers half-way through.
Conclusion:
This is a decent coming of age story with some touching moments especially once you realize it is based off a true story. It might open your perspective on how difficult some children have it and witness the inequalities of the world to make western audiences appreciate what they have. But the experience somehow feels a bit flat as a result of the jarring shift half-way though the film, that makes the first half of the film feel disingenuous or as though it had been over-dramatized. A good story but less powerful than similar Indian coming of age tales, this one has a quieter and more intimate approach.
Recommendations
Visual spectacle of a generation.