A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia. 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
The story of the life and academic career of the pioneer Indian mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and his friendship with his mentor, Professor G.H. Hardy.
World War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.
Director:
Mel Gibson
Stars:
Andrew Garfield,
Sam Worthington,
Luke Bracey
In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Director:
Matt Ross
Stars:
Viggo Mortensen,
George MacKay,
Samantha Isler
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
The story of Chesley Sullenberger, an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.
Held captive for years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
In 1986, Saroo was a five-year-old child in India of a poor but happy rural family. On a trip with his brother, Saroo soon finds himself alone and trapped in a moving decommissioned passenger train that takes him to Calcutta, 1500 miles away from home. Now totally lost in an alien urban environment and too young to identify either himself or his home to the authorities, Saroo struggles to survive as a street child until he is sent to an orphanage. Soon, Saroo is selected to be adopted by the Brierley family in Tasmania, where he grows up in a loving, prosperous home. However, for all his material good fortune, Saroo finds himself plagued by his memories of his lost family in his adulthood and tries to search for them even as his guilt drives him to hide this quest from his adoptive parents and his girlfriend. Only when he has an epiphany does he realize not only the answers he needs, but also the steadfast love that he has always had with all his loved ones in both worlds.Written by
Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
"It's one of those stories where it is virtually impossible not to move people when you talk to them about it. It's an incredible story that gives everyone tingles up their spine. It taps into something primal in us as human beings - the need to find home and the need to know who you are," producer Emile Sherman said. See more »
Goofs
In 1987 when Saroo first arrives in Hobart, Australia on the journey home whilst he is looking out the window an image of a white 4WD with a red boat attached is shown. The car is an 80 series Toyota Land Cruiser. The 80 Series Land Cruiser did not begin production until 1990, three years after the supposed date. See more »
Quotes
[Saroo is picking up large and small rocks for his mother as she encourages him]
Kamla:
achchha bachcha...
[which means... good boy]
See more »
Crazy Credits
After the final credits, there's an earlier shot with the boys on the train tunnel and the credits "In loving memory of Guddu". See more »
Never Give Up
Performed by Sia
Written by Sia (as Sia Furler) and Greg Kurstin
Published by Pineapple Lasagne/Sony/ATV Music Publishing Ltd. (ASCAP), Kurstin Music/EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
Greg Kurstin: tanpura, keyboards, drums, bass, programming, percussion
Produced by Greg Kurstin
Mixed by Greg Kurstin
Engineered by Greg Kurstin, Alex Pasco and Julian Burg at Echo Studio, Los Angeles, CA See more »
Missing child cases are ones that really do send a shiver down the spine, the uncertainty of the child's whereabouts or whether in fact they are actually still alive being the major worries. You can't possibly understand the effect it must have on a family. In Garth Davis' Lion, we see the effects of such a case on the child rather than the family left behind.
Saroo (Sunny Pawar) is a five-year-old child living in a remote Indian village with his mother, brother and sister. Spending his days helping his brother steal coal from trains, Saroo joins his brother for a job one night but finds himself lost and on a train to Calcutta, nearly two-thousand kilometres from his home village.
Surviving many challenges and meeting various faces, Saroo is eventually adopted by an Australian couple, John and Sue Brierley (David Wenham and Nicole Kidman). Twenty-five years later, Saroo (Dev Patel) decides to track his lost family down.
I must start by saying that I absolutely loved Lion, a film that deals with such a traumatising true story in such a delicate manner. Garth Davis splits the film into two halves, the first focusing on Saroo as a five-year-old lost in such a densely populated city and the second looking at Saroo as a grown man, so far away from the life he left years before. It is quite tough to watch at times, particularly some scenes of a young Saroo trying to survive on the streets of Calcutta however, Davis' film builds to a truly beautiful conclusion that left me emotionally destroyed.
I think the fact that this is a true story played a massive part in the conclusion having such an impact on me. Davis plays it out brilliantly and the inclusion of real life footage in the end credits, along with startling facts about how many children go missing in India, just added more power to the already powerful film.
Lion doesn't just get its power from the story but from the tremendous performances also. I have always liked Dev Patel as an actor but this is the first time I've watched him give such a powerhouse of a performance as a grown up Saroo struggling to cope with tracking down his lost family. From here, Patel could really go places, starting with awards recognition in the early new year.
Sunny Pawar deserves a special mention for his performance as a young Saroo, lost and alone in such a unfamiliar place. It's always a risk to have such a large portion of the film led by such a young actor but it's ultimately one that pays off greatly in Lion. There's also fine support on offer from Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, ensuring the quality runs right throughout the film.
Lion is a film that I urge you to go and see because a film like this needs the coverage and its subject matter is something people need to be made more aware of.
119 of 153 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Missing child cases are ones that really do send a shiver down the spine, the uncertainty of the child's whereabouts or whether in fact they are actually still alive being the major worries. You can't possibly understand the effect it must have on a family. In Garth Davis' Lion, we see the effects of such a case on the child rather than the family left behind.
Saroo (Sunny Pawar) is a five-year-old child living in a remote Indian village with his mother, brother and sister. Spending his days helping his brother steal coal from trains, Saroo joins his brother for a job one night but finds himself lost and on a train to Calcutta, nearly two-thousand kilometres from his home village.
Surviving many challenges and meeting various faces, Saroo is eventually adopted by an Australian couple, John and Sue Brierley (David Wenham and Nicole Kidman). Twenty-five years later, Saroo (Dev Patel) decides to track his lost family down.
I must start by saying that I absolutely loved Lion, a film that deals with such a traumatising true story in such a delicate manner. Garth Davis splits the film into two halves, the first focusing on Saroo as a five-year-old lost in such a densely populated city and the second looking at Saroo as a grown man, so far away from the life he left years before. It is quite tough to watch at times, particularly some scenes of a young Saroo trying to survive on the streets of Calcutta however, Davis' film builds to a truly beautiful conclusion that left me emotionally destroyed.
I think the fact that this is a true story played a massive part in the conclusion having such an impact on me. Davis plays it out brilliantly and the inclusion of real life footage in the end credits, along with startling facts about how many children go missing in India, just added more power to the already powerful film.
Lion doesn't just get its power from the story but from the tremendous performances also. I have always liked Dev Patel as an actor but this is the first time I've watched him give such a powerhouse of a performance as a grown up Saroo struggling to cope with tracking down his lost family. From here, Patel could really go places, starting with awards recognition in the early new year.
Sunny Pawar deserves a special mention for his performance as a young Saroo, lost and alone in such a unfamiliar place. It's always a risk to have such a large portion of the film led by such a young actor but it's ultimately one that pays off greatly in Lion. There's also fine support on offer from Rooney Mara, Nicole Kidman and David Wenham, ensuring the quality runs right throughout the film.
Lion is a film that I urge you to go and see because a film like this needs the coverage and its subject matter is something people need to be made more aware of.