Analysis of the Film 'Lion' for Australia Week Film Festival

Running head: AUSTRALIA WEEK FILM
AUSTRALIA WEEK FILM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AUSTRALIA WEEK FILM
Introduction
A particular group dealing in cultural affairs shall be hosting a film festival at a foreign
country. The name of the event is ‘Australia Week’, and Australian films shall be shown in the
film festival. The chosen films shall be an account of the Australian society and to what extent
have the films upheld the principle of diversity that prevails in the Australian society shall be the
prime attraction of the films.
Statement of purpose
For the present purpose, the analysis of the film ‘Lion’ shall be provided in order to
substantiate the cause of its inclusion into the ‘Australia Week’ film festival. The analysis of the
chosen film shall be focusing upon the issue of diversity of Australian society and how it has
been showcased in the film. The aim is to prove that the chosen film deserves to be a part of the
film festival.
Analysis of the film
Synoptic view of the chosen film
The chosen film is titled ‘Lion’ which was released in the year 2016. The film has been
directed by Garth Davis and produced jointly by Iain Canning, Angie Fielder and Emile
Sherman. The film is not a fiction as it has been an adaptation of a novel ‘A Long Way Home’
composed by Saroo Breirley and Larry Buttrose which narrates a real life experience of a quest
for the estranged family members from a foreign nation, return to the nation where the
protagonist was born and finally a reunion with the biological family of the protagonist.

2AUSTRALIA WEEK FILM
The plot of the film revolves around the adventures of Saroo, a village boy born in the
Khandwa district of India. Saroo lived in the village named Ganesh Talai with his parents and his
elder brother Guddu. The siblings indulged in stealing of coal from freight trains in order to
purchase milk and food for their survival. On one occasion, both the siblings had travelled to a
nearby railway station in search of some occupation when the brothers get estranged and from
then onwards the adventures of Saroo begins. Saroo desperately searches for Guddu from one
train compartment to the other over a period of several days and in the process he reaches to
another part of India, in Calcutta. Without any occupation, without any knowledge of the local
Bengali language, Saroo finds it difficult to lead a life in the new city. He wanders about in the
city streets and comes across a woman named Noor who had under the pretext of helping him
out had tried to harm Saroo. Sensing the imminent danger, Saroo escapes to lead a life on the
streets of the city of Calcutta from where he gets shifted to an orphanage and finally funds his
way to Australia where he is provided shelter by a white couple as their adopted child. Saroo
grows up, pursues hotel management but the memories of Khandwa haunts him. He tries to
locate his hometown through the google map feature. On finally being able to locate his
hometown, Saroo undertakes a journey back to his home in India. There he unites with his
biological mother and he learns that Guddu had died in a train accident that day itself when they
got estranged. With the return of Saroo to his village in Khandwa, the conviction of his mother
that her son shall return to her someday also came true. This is the plot of the film, and the
storyline on which the film is based upon in (Google.com, 2019).