Lion [DVD] [2017]

Great performances by all actors, especially the boy who played the young Saroo. Really powerful and made more so as it's based on a true story

Having just finished reading the book about Saroo becoming lost, it was a natural follow up to order and watch the film. So glad we did.Events of the early days are sped through, two stories are combined, some details worked around, but no problem. The account of Saroo becoming lost is tremendous here. To see actual sites where he lived, survived and escaped capture add integrity and emotion. Yes, the book details events well, photos show where they took place but seeing them on screen brings the horror of a lost child's experiences to life.The children's home and adoption process are concise too, but within an almost two hour film, you are simply swept along with it all. Life in Australia begins anew for the Brierley family, with moments of joy and challenge.Saroo's studies lead to an online search, which many of us have used to seek out familiar places, but none so life changing possibly as the case here.Following a period of obsessiveness with his search, Saroo comes across his homeland by chance - which is far further than anyone had thought possible, made as a five year old child.By now, if you have read the book, you are clinging on to the moment of Saroo meeting his mother at long last. Of course it's highly charged and emotional. As were the final scenes where actual photos of those involved were shown, with mother meeting mum.An outstanding account that has to be congratulated for following the account of Saroo as given in his writing. Very lovely, very sensitive - and well handled.I would recommend this film, yes, but would suggest those who have not yet seen it, to read the book first, then view. A very heady pair of accounts.

This is a film that is worth the star rating on Amazon. I've watched the DVD twice now and loaned it to relatives who were all equally impressed - a really good film. I've always liked films that are based on true stories and this film sticks quite closely to the truth of what happened. What makes it more real though is the acting - especially the little boy who plays the young Saroo - who is very convincing - but all the main actors play their parts in making it feel like reality. Perhaps the only bit of the film that I would criticise - is some of the scenes with the older Saroo and his american girlfriend where some of the dialogue is unintelligible (not uncommon in modern day films unfortunately) - which I really can't see the point of - although frustrating as it is - you still manage to get the gist of whats going on. The final part of the film when he finally returns to the home of his mother is certainly the climax and best bit of the film - a real tear jerker - especially when right at the end of the film - in a final twist they show the actual footage of the reunion of the real Saroo, with his real mother and his real step mother on tow - all very moving and a very nice touch. The extra's that come with the DVD are also well worth watching - especially as you have the real Saroo giving his own account of his story. For me this film goes into the top five best films I've ever seen and if I had been making it I would made it longer and have included even more of the story in the film - in my opinion the film could have taken it (after all Schindlers list is 3 hours long).

Awesome film - and it's a true story!A little Indian boy tries to help his big brother as he goes looking for dropped money on a railway platform at night. He falls asleep on a bench and on waking, finding his brother gone, steps onto a stationary train, trying to find him. Sleep overtakes him again and he lies down on one of the seats only to wake and find the completely empty train speeding through India. Unbeknown to him, the train is heading for the breakers yard and doesn't stop for two days, by which time he is thousands of miles from home. He disembarks as soon as the doors open and runs off through the crowds calling for his mother but because he is so far from home, no-one understands him as he has travelled into another region and the language is quite different to that of his homeland. He passes through the hands of several unsavoury characters intent on lining their own pockets at the expense of his childhood innocence until he is finally adopted by a kind Australian couple.This is all recalled by the main character, Saroo, played by Dev Patel, in flashbacks to his childhood when 25 years have passed. He becomes increasingly disturbed as he recalls more and more of his early childhood in India and can't live down the fact that his loving mother will have spent half her life wondering what happened to him, not knowing whether he is alive or dead. It starts to eat him up and friends and family worry about him until someone suggests Google Earth... then, the adventure begins.Will Saroo find his mother and brother with only the childishly mispronounced name of his home village to go on...

I'm not a big watcher of films, and I tend to pick and choose – mainstream Hollywood stuff just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. But the concept of this offering attracted my attention.It's a remarkable story (even more so for being based on factual events), and I found myself drawn in from the start by its methodical and careful approach to telling a tale that can probably only be fully appreciated by someone who has witnessed at first hand the tragic plight of India's many 'street children'. But this is not to say that it won't engross those who haven't, it is a very carefully crafted piece.I loved the gentle and empathetic vibe of the composition, and the commitment to detail, this film's almost two-hour duration is entirely justified.For me, it's a 'must watch', a fascinating and much darker counterpoint to that other classic, 'Slumdog Millionaire'.The only downside I can find is that the name of Harvey Weinstein hasn't been deleted from the title sequences.