In 1981, Salman Rushdie wrote Midnight’s Children, catapulting him to international fame. Thirty years later, he’s adapted the saga for the screen and provides the film’s narration. At the heart of this epic tale, which spans from 1917 to 1977, lie two inspiring and chaotic stories: the independence of India and its subsequent bloody partition, and a poor boy with telepathic gifts, who is switched at birth with the child of a wealthy family. As sweeping an epic as Gone with the Wind, the film combines the magical realism of García Márquez, the desperate humanism of John Irving and the lavishness of the original novel, complete with family secrets, politically fuelled violence, ghosts, assassins, strong matriarchs, fallen women, betrayed lovers and passionate revenge. Giles Nuttgens’s sparkling and sensuous cinematography, Nitin Sawhney’s captivating score and Deepa Mehta’s assured direction all serve to turn Midnight’s Children into a spellbinding voyage.