British director Danny Boyle has said he wouldn’t even think of making a film like “Slumdog Millionaire” today, citing concerns over “cultural appropriation.”
“I’m proud of the film, but you wouldn’t even contemplate doing something like that today. It wouldn’t even get financed,” he told The Guardian about the hit 2008 movie.
The filmmaker won an Oscar for best director for the movie, which follows a young Indian man (played by Dev Patel) as he is given the life-changing opportunity to appear on a local version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
The film, which won eight Academy Awards, received critical acclaim and was a hit at the box office, but some critics took issue with its portrayal of Indian society.
“We wouldn’t be able to make that now,” Boyle said. “And that’s how it should be. It’s time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we’ve left on the world.”
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Boyle said that while he had made efforts “to make a film within the culture,” including working with a large local crew, it was still a “flawed method.”
“You’re still an outsider,” he said. “That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times. But at other times it cannot be.”
“Slumdog Millionaire” was adapted by screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and based on the novel “Q & A” by Vikas Swarup.
The film grossed more than $378 million worldwide.
Boyle’s latest movie, a zombie horror titled “28 Years Later” — part of the “28 Days Later” series — was released in theaters on June 20.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, the director discussed his return to the zombie genre and why they shot the film using modern tech like iPhones and drones.
“I felt an obligation to take the spirit of the first movie, but be aware that the technology has moved on so much,” Boyle said.
“Phones now shoot at 4K, which is what a lot of cameras shoot at anyway. And the advantage of using the phones is we were able to be very lightweight,” he added.