Odell Public Library Friends will host the film “Lion,” beginning at 2:00 p.m., on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, in the Program Room. The library is located at 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL.
“Lion” is a survival story, a poor child’s journey through punishing poverty, and the perils of modern India. This film is the remarkable, true story of Saroo Brierley’s life.
A five-year-old boy from Western India is a vital part of his single-mother’s family support system. Saroo dotes on his older brother Guddu and joins him in jumping trains. They steal coal that has dropped from the trains to sell on the local market. If they are lucky, they will earn enough for the milk that keeps the little family of five going for another day.
On one of these train jumping nights, they become separated, and Saroo dozes off on an empty passenger train. This train is not stationary, however, and it is towed cross-country. We experience his terror upon waking up to a nightmare of abandonment, with no one to help him.
In Calcutta, the nightmare only widens, as Saroo is now homeless, does not speak Bengali, and know neither his last name nor the village where he is from. He becomes a street urchin. Every adult handles him roughly, ignores him, or tries to kidnap him and sell him into slavery.
Eventually, Saroo ends up in an orphanage. He is adopted by an Australian couple that takes him even further from his village and family.
Later, as a college student, Saroo has flashbacks of long-forgotten memories. He tries to hide his desire to know his past and his former family from his adoptive mother. But she demonstrates her own boundless love for Saroo and tells him to search for his story with her blessing.
“The movie ‘Lion’ has profound themes of identity and home. Let’s just say, if you are human, there is no way that ‘Lion’ won’t move you.” (Roger Ebert)