Lion is a movie with a high score of 8.1 on IMDb. It tells the true story of a long-distance search for relatives. The story is adapted from the true event book "The Long Way Home" written by Saroo. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for six Oscars, including best picture, best supporting actress and other heavyweight awards.
The film tells the story of Saroo, a young Indian boy who got on a train by mistake because of his poor family and no one to take care of him. Because of India's unique national conditions, he had to live in an orphanage after experiencing a crisis because of the language barrier in Calcutta. Later, Saroo was adopted by a couple in Australia and came to Tasmania to start a new life. The Brierleys treated Saroo as their own, and took him out of the shadow of leaving home as a child with sincere care, let him grow up, and sent him to Melbourne to go to university. After Saroo went to college, he made a lot of new friends and fell in love with his girlfriend Lucy. A small talk with a friend stirred up his homesickness, and he started looking for his hometown, which he didn't even remember the name of, through modern technology such as Google Earth. In the end, with the support of his adoptive parents and his own efforts, he returned to his hometown in India alone after more than 20 years, and met his long-lost mother and sister.
Lion's story itself does not have too many routines. Although it is simple and unpretentious, it is more sincere and easy to resonate with people. Following the protagonist Saroo's footsteps from India to Australia and back to India to narrate the story line, the contrast and connection before and after are quite clever. In the first half of the film, Saroo gets lost in India. The background of the scene is mostly rocks and railway tracks. The sky is mostly gloomy, the tone is dim, and the atmosphere is depressed and heavy. When Saroo was adopted and came to Tasmania, the background that often appeared in the scene was the beach and the sea. With the care of Saroo by the adoptive parents, it appeared bright and warm. In the end, Saroo successfully returned to India in search of his relatives. The sun was shining that day, which is also a portrayal of Saroo's true expelling of the haze in his heart and starting a new life.
In the first half of the filming in India, the depiction of emotions is extremely delicate. The actor of Little Saroo vividly portrays the confusion and fear of leaving home when he was young. His movements and expressions are full of realism, which matches the scenes of the film, The tone and soundtrack can easily bring the audience into the situation. In addition, the rhythm control ability of the first half is also very good, the narrative of the story is smooth and coherent, the details are appropriate, and the environmental background, character relationship and personality are clearly portrayed. The most commendable is the scene in which little Saroo is chased by traffickers in the underground street. The film uses a shaky shot to create a tense and oppressive atmosphere by quickly switching back and forth from Saroo's frontal and back perspectives. Among them, the close-up of the security guard is the finishing touch, which seems unintentional, but invisibly describes the current status of the bottom society at that time. Without going into details, it's powerful enough.
In the second half of the film, when Saroo was adopted by the Brierleys, the film officially entered the Australian scene. It also has just the right scenes, soundtracks and the delicate acting skills of the actors. But maybe due to the length of the movie, there were loopholes in the rhythm. Especially when the scenes of reality and memories are switched, the director may consciously want to create a sense of confusion that cannot be remembered, but he uses too much force, causing the audience to feel confused. The development of the plot started fast and slow, which caused a certain degree of obstacles to the audience's viewing and understanding, and also affected the characterization of the film. In the film, Saroo's girlfriend Lucy is one of the main characters in the second half, but she didn't play a big role in promoting the film's storyline, and her personal portraits were not clear. In contrast, the adoptive mother Sue played by Nicole Kidman, the role of adoptive parents is a link between the front and rear parts of the film. Nicole used superb acting skills to set off the atmosphere of the story, and even in the case of a slightly chaotic plot, it also allowed the audience to accurately experience the feelings conveyed by the characters.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that the character of Saroo's brother Guddu, although he does not appear much, is the finishing touch of the film, a role that connects the beginning, development and end of the film. Guddu is the key figure in the plot of Saroo's loss, and it is also an opportunity to cause Saroo's homesickness. The ending of his death to find Saroo is the biggest regret in this happy ending movie. In my opinion, the use of a supporting character with a small role as the emotional connection of the whole story is the most outstanding part of Lion, and it is also the most moving point of this film as an adaptation of a true story. It blurs the line between art and reality, allowing the film to connect the audience with the story not just as a cultural product but as an emotional medium.
Lion is not a drama with a good plot, but its handling of emotions is outstanding. Delicate in portrayal and ingenious in expression, it is a film that is not necessarily attractive but definitely moving enough. Whether it's the actions of the Brierleys in the story or the director's handling of emotion in the filmmaking outside the story, there is a uniquely Australian warmth.
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