Slumdog Millionaire Final Scene Analysis

The final scene is interesting to the audience as it creates suspense and conveys to the audience many themes, such as sacrifice, destiny, and love. The use of cross-cutting from Jamal’s point of view to Salim’s and even Latika’s creates anticipation for the audience as to what is going to happen. Boyle is purposefully showing the shots of Latika running towards the phone and Salim layering money in the bath tub to create suspense for the audience as the figure out what will happen, and how each scene pieces into the end game of the movie.

A scene that was particularly interesting and true to the theme of redemption was Salim’s death scene. Boyle inserts a lot of visual symbolism into Salim’s scene as he uses dark lighting to foreshadow something …show more content…
This scene is interesting as Boyle creates a sense of urgency as we see Latika pushing her way through the crowd to get to her phone. The technique of filling up the scene (with people) heightens the sense of urgency as we start to doubt whether or not she will reach the phone and speak with Jamal. The audience’s anticipation builds even further when Prem says to Jamal that ‘(he) is on (his) own’, before gesturing towards the crew to cut off the call. The use of dark lighting creates a false sense of loss, as the connection between Latika and Jamal is nearly severed. Latika’s scene is also interesting as it holds a lot of parallels towards the previous scene where Latika and Jamal try to run to each other at the train station. In this case, Salim is helping Latika and Jamal reconnect as opposed to when he was chasing her down in the train station. Another intriguing parallel to the other scene is the fact that Latika makes it at the last moment this time, compared to when Jamal barely misses her through the crowd. Boyle’s use of parallel situations ultimately ties in with the theme of destiny, loyalty and perseverance as Latika and Jamal’s journey can nearly come to an end, despite all the obstacles in their way. This scene also shows that love will find its way, no matter what and that if it’s destined to be, it will …show more content…
In the scene, Jamal finds himself stuck with the final question in ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’. After calling Latika (who doesn’t know the answer either), he decides to guess the answer. Before we see Jamal making his final answer, Boyle uses cross-cutting to show the people around India, watching intensely at the TV as they anticipate Jamal making his answer. In a sense, this mirrors the audience in real life as the use of cross cutting gives the audience the feeling of sitting at the edge of their seats. When Jamal answers, ‘A’ for Aramis, the audience is left hanging on his and Prem’s words. Boyle uses the silence to create anticipation for the result of the game show, which is very effective as we, the audience, are left in suspense. When the host decides to ask Jamal why he chose the answer he did, we are further left in the dark. The climax of the movie reaches its all-time high after Jamal’s nonchalant response saying, ‘(he chose it) just because’. This line creates a sense of doubt for the audience as we await the result with Jamal (which additionally makes the movie bring a sense of inclusiveness between its protagonist and the audience). After finding out that he won, Jamal decides to go to the train station one last time. This time, however, he sees Latika standing there waiting for him. The use of an empty setting (in this case, a train station) symbolises