Slumdog Millionaire, an unapologetic modern fairy tale, tells a story that could have taken place in long ago times: just take its main aspects and transplant them. The plot concerns a couple of poor brothers -- one bad and one good -- and the girl the good one loves. The good brother encounters a kind of positive magical miracle, catalyzed by his love of the girl and only realized because he has suffered through harrowing experiences while growing up. Perhaps he found a genie who gave him a test before granting him wealth, and he was able to pass the test as a result of  those experiences. The construct is so appealing, it's almost instantly classic.

Replace genie with game show, and we get Slumdog Millionaire. Don't worry, nothing was spoiled just now -- at the beginning of the movie, in Mumbai, Jamal (Dev Patel) has already won the largest amount of money ever on India's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Unfortunately, he's suspected of cheating, so he's being interrogated (with torture!) by the police. After all, he came from the slums -- how in the world could he know the answers to questions even the higher educated folks might have a hard time with? When the chief interrogator (Irfan Khan) figures out that Jamal isn't lying, he begins to replay the tape of the show and ask him about each question one-by-one, and with each question Jamal recounts a frightening or suspenseful event from his young life.

The depiction of the conditions Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar as young child, Tanay Hemant Chheda as older child) and his brother Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail as young child, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala as older child, Madhur Mittal as adult) grew up in makes Slumdog Millionaire a grueling fairy tale, but that's simply following the rules -- after all, how effective could such a story be if the situations our hero escapes from aren't truly scary? This aspect of the movie reminded me of City of God, a film about murderous youth gangs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Slumdog includes a gangster element too, as Salim has considerably less moral fortitude than Jamal and often instigates illegal schemes in order to help the pair survive. Eventually Salim gets in league with Mumbai's gangsters. In both movies, light shines on the contrast between the two main characters and their inherent moral dispositions -- one leans toward the good and the possibility of love, the other toward the wicked and wealth/power.

But the difference here is that while City of God's slick style made the criminal life feel exciting with a certain allure, Slumdog emphasizes the horrid conditions and class prejudice faced by India's destitute. One particularly heart-wrenching scenario involves a Fagin-esque organization where orphaned kids are gathered and trained to steal and beg. The idea in this film is that although we get to root for the escape of one of the slumdogs, these conditions are very real -- and there's actually little that's entertaining about them.

Is Slumdog Millionaire therefore facile for being about what's effectively a magical triumph? If the story has any weakness, this may be it -- a resignation to graft a conspicuously contrived, uplifting story over real-life tragedies. But even in that regard, as the fairy tale it is, the movie succeeds with its sheer pace and furious filmmaking. Director Danny Boyle tells all his stories with nothing less than panache, and frankly the last time he made a film this gritty and energetic, with a protagonist attempting to attain a higher footing than the destructive influences surrounding him, was Trainspotting. In that movie, the main character tried to walk away from a wretched lifestyle, but at least he had the choice. In Slumdog, the sad truth is that for its main character, luck (or, as they may say, destiny) paid most of the fee for his ticket out.

(Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures and rated "R" for some violence, disturbing images and language.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com