Midnight's Children

Name: Midnight's Children
Genre: Drama
Released: April 26, 2013
Duration: 146 min
Rating: 56

2013

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Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 5 Ratings

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Midnight's Children

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Movie Details & Credits

108 Media | Release Date: April 26, 2013 | Not Rated

Summary: At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as India proclaims independence from Great Britain, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor woman, and Shiva, the offspring of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives becomeAt the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, as India proclaims independence from Great Britain, two newborn babies are switched by a nurse in a Bombay hospital. Saleem Sinai, the illegitimate son of a poor woman, and Shiva, the offspring of a wealthy couple, are fated to live the destiny meant for each other. Their lives become mysteriously intertwined and are inextricably linked to India's whirlwind journey of triumphs and disasters. [Paladin]… Expand

Director: Deepa Mehta

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 146 min

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Critic Reviews

Marc Mohan

May 9, 2013

Not only compelling and complex, but educational. Read full review

Peter Rainer

May 3, 2013

The film’s political scope is wide, beginning in 1917 and extending for sixty years, and, especially in the first hour or so, the antic, magical tone of Rushdie’s novel is sustained. Read full review

Claudia Puig

May 10, 2013

The film is beautifully shot, with vivid production design. But because of the tale's lack of cohesion, it doesn't carry enough emotional heft. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Apr 23, 2013

Even if you've read the novel, and are prepared for the long running time and haphazard structure, this isn't a movie you should expect to feel or even closely follow. See it if Midnight's Children is a novel you always wanted the gist of. Read full review

Rachel Saltz

Apr 25, 2013

The film needs an injection of Bollywood’s unembarrassed, anything-goes, bigger-than-life spirit, which embraces willy-nilly — as does Mr. Rushdie’s novel — the vulgar, the fanciful and the frankly unbelievable. Read full review

Stephen Farber

Apr 1, 2013

Despite the solid work of cast and crew, the film dawdles and fails to justify its two-and-a-half-hour running time. Midnight reaches its tender conclusion without ever achieving the emotional or dramatic heft that such an epic tale requires. Read full review

Eric Hynes

Apr 23, 2013

A miniseries, which the BBC once planned, might have worked. In this form, Midnight’s Children has the paradoxical misfortune of being both too rushed and too wearingly long. Read full review

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User Reviews

geedup

Apr 28, 2013

When I noticed this movie I didn't realize it was rushdie's movie/writing. Additionally when i saw the trailer it was portrayed to me as a coming of age for these kids during a unique time in history. However, what I got was a long story which revolves around these kids that were born duringWhen I noticed this movie I didn't realize it was rushdie's movie/writing. Additionally when i saw the trailer it was portrayed to me as a coming of age for these kids during a unique time in history. However, what I got was a long story which revolves around these kids that were born during the exact moment of independence. A good premise but very bad execution. Underacted with potential storylines unexplored. The supernatural collection of these children that come together on occasion throughout the movie is the main plot of the story but wasn't compelling at all.… Expand

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arsheesh

May 9, 2014

The plot is about several of children born around the first hour of India’s independence, the

central character being Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha as adult, Darsheel Safary as 10 years old), who with others born around the midnight of 15th August 1947 possess special powers.The plot is about several of children born around the first hour of India’s independence, the

central character being Saleem Sinai (Satya Bhabha as adult, Darsheel Safary as 10 years

old), who with others born around the midnight of 15th August 1947 possess special powers.

(prophecy, magic, metamorphosis).

They are the Indian X-Men, and they become the embodiment of the best hope of the two nations

during a period of bad faith, violence and the betrayal of democracy. At the centre is a variation

of Mark Twain’s ‘The Prince and the Pauper’: a rich boy and the son of a street musician are

swapped at birth by the midwife (Seema Bishwas) who believes she is exercising benign social

engineering; ‘the rich become poor and the poor rich’, as guided by her communist lover’s

political ideology.

The rest that follows is hastily and poorly done chronicle of Saleem’s life as it intertwines with

the new independent life of India, with occasional visits from other ‘Midnight’s Children’

who are called for conference by Saleem (why always when he is sad or disturbed?), who has

telepathic abilities, with the twitching of his remarkably large nose.

In efforts to capture the true essence of the vastly detailed volume of a book, Mehta and Rushdie

have, though possibly unintentionally, given the audience, who are occasionally thrown from

scene to scene, a sense of the movie being crammed up hastily into the space allocated by

conventional filmmaking without letting a chance for the people or the scenes sink properly. The

sympathy doesn’t go to the characters or anything that happens; instead it is on the actors.

The movie is not a waste altogether; the landscape of Kashmir has been captured gorgeously.

The film is beautifully shot, with a real sense of colour, texture, settings and light. Mehta

packs our ride with startling details that grasp our interests as we are whisked into decades.

So solemnly I wish it were the same with the details in the plot. The film loses its way into

the second half and dawdles; failing to justify it’s over two-and-half hours’ duration. All

in all, ‘Midnight’s Children’ drags to its end without tracing its mark anywhere. A dull

adaptation, ‘Midnight’ fails to ‘hit-the-spittoon’.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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