Rent Midnight's Children (2012)
3.0 of 5 from 99 ratings
2h 20min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as India declares independence, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor woman, and Shiva, the son of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives become mysteriously intertwined and are inextricably linked to India's whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters.
- Actors:
- Rajat Kapoor, Vansh Bhardwaj, Anupam Kher, Neha Mahajan, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Kusum Haidar, Zaib Shaikh, Kabir Singh Chowdhry, Shabana Azmi, Anita Majumdar, Shahana Goswami, Shikha Talsania, Rahul Bose, Hasitha Samarasekara, Ronit Roy, Nethuli Werasuriya, Devli Aknara Paranavithana, N. Vorushan, M.G.M.S. Zulfick, Charles Dance
- Directors:
- Deepa Mehta
- Producers:
- David Hamilton
- Narrated By:
- Salman Rushdie
- Writers:
- Salman Rushdie, Deepa Mehta
- Studio:
- E1 Entertainment
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance
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Reviews (1) of Midnight's Children
Dialogue - almost unintelligible - Midnight's Children review by CP Customer
I was looking forward to the interpretation of one of the most important books of the second part of the 20th century. The subtitles for dialogue not in English was too small, too long and almost impossible to read. I realise how important it was to use actors originating from the sub-continent but sadly much of the dialogue was, like the subtitles, impossible to de-code. A great pity that a filmic interpretation of a great book should be so clumsily produced and directed.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
Midnight's Children review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
Following a screenplay based on the supposedly unfilmable novel by Salman Rushdie director Deepa Mehta presents Midnight’s Children, the story of children born on the stroke of midnight on the day in 1947 when India became liberated from Britain. Hints of magic and attempts at beautiful fantasy percolate through this movie like trickles of filthy undrinkable water in a barren desert. What should be refreshing and invigorating is putrid and entirely wasted.
Those who have read the book (unlike myself) may think the above comment overly harsh, yet after loosing two hours of my life to Midnight’s Children I can not help but feel vindicated in my assertions.
The story, which remains very true to Rushdie’s original novelisation, follows two babies, switched at birth so that the son of a rich man grows up in a poverty stricken slum with a single parent, whilst the poor child grows up spoilt and wealthy. This Prince and the Pauper-esque story is set against the backdrop of a new India where children are growing up experiencing things as their parents and grandparents never have. The additional magical powers of the children born on this special day give the boys an extra layer of insight into their changing world; or at least one assumes that it the intention.
The key problem with the movie is the excessive detail poured into the narrative; Rushdie – who also wrote the screenplay, produced and narrated the movie – claims to be very proud of the final piece. For viewers however it is a heavily laden piece with an unbelievably long and unnecessary prologue of about 40 minutes before the story can really begin and from there, rather un-likeable characters.
What is a real shame is that something as simple as a critical editor/re-writer in the early stages of screenplay and script writing could have allowed the key story, one of magic, of birth and of liberation, whilst keeping some of Rushdie’s original and wonderfully evocative speech. Instead the narrative becomes lost in the narration, whilst the magic of the story becomes suppressed by mundane and unnecessary character traits.