Movie: Born into BrothelsI imagine that having the word 'brothel' in a title will elicit one of two reactions. Some will be intrigued and will therefore seek out the movie. Others will decide that it is not "family friendly" or G-rated, and might choose to skip it.
To all those in the latter category, I urge that they reconsider. By skipping this documentary because of a mere word, you will be missing out of something important and essential. I am even willing to go as far as dubbing this as "seminal", for those of us who have any ties with India. In this movie, the brothels serve mainly to provide a background, the mileu for the stories and lives of these lively children.
After watching the movie, I couldn't think of any group of people that won't like the movie. But when I browsed the Web for reactions, I did find critics and they had two main objections.
Quite a few people felt that the movie/documentary, which rotates through the stories of 8-10 children, doesn't allow us to get close to any of them. I understand the objection, but feel that this arrangement might be by design. This is not a story with that plotline. It is more about how the photography classes (which is something so outside of norm for these kids) enters and impacts these young lives.
The other objection was that this movie was more of a self-promotion by the photographer/teacher, Zana Brisky. I cannot really side with this objection. While the rest of us are living lives of luxury (reading, writing and commenting on blogs) Ms. Brisky went off to live in Calcutta and chose to spend her time making the world aware of female infanticide. That fact alone should give her the license to tell her stories in any way she wishes to.
If you haven't already seen the movie, you will almost surely see it in DVD. After watching the movie, absolutely don't miss the part (in the extras section of the DVD) where we get to see the reactions of these same kids getting to see the movie in which they are featured for the very first time. Three years have elapsed since the original footage was shot, and we can visibly see that the kids have grown up a bit. Their reactions (laughter and sadness) are honest and I found this segment quite amazing. Again, don't miss this part in the DVD.
Born Into Brothels was lucky, in that got nominated and went on to win an Oscar for Best Documentary, and consequently got worldwide publicity. That was the main reason I got to hear about it and ended up watching it. What I feel bad about is that there must be so many more wonderful documentaries out there, that don't get nominated, and don't get the publicity and so we all end up missing them. If you know of other documentaries that you'd like to recommend, please leave a comment for the other visitors.(If you wish to recommend this movie to someone, you can use the "letter" icon below to forward this post to them via email.)
5 comments:
Thanks for stopping by! This is a nice write-up of the movies. Two others you may like are Spellbound and Mad Hot Ballroom. They both have the same idea - watching kids be transformed by working on something artistic or academic, but they take place here in the US. They're all great movies!
I totally agree, and think that the reason there were so many children highlighted was to emphasize the fact that there are so many children in this situation. I JUST finished watching "Lost Boys of Sudan" about 10 minutes ago. No narration, only a few identiying titles printed on the screen to give background information. I thought this movie was complex and touching/heartbreaking on so many levels, it is difficult to describe.
Hi Ram,
Thanks for commenting on my journal. I totally agree with everything you had to say here. It's such a beautiful movie, and I was constantly shocked by the quality of the children's photographs. I was so sad though that my favorite little girl didn't end up staying in school. What a doll she was...
anyway, take care!
fee_b
We have to buy that DVD player we keep on delaying, after reading your review.
Hello, Ram:
Thanks for dropping by my blog and leaving a comment. :-)
You've written a really good review, and I agree with what you've said. Born into Brothels is a remarkable, poignant doc well worth recommending to any and everyone.
I imagine you've already seen it, but if not - I'd recommend The Fog of War (Errol Morris). It is a timely documentary, very relevant to the times we're currently living in and an excellent piece besides.
There are also the Paradise Lost films, detailing the arrests, trials and convictions of the "West Memphis Three" - a travesty of justice if ever there was.
Thanks again for dropping by. You have a nice blog I'll be sure to keep my eye on.
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