This is one film that will teach you to love documentaries. It will break your heart in the first moments and give you a new one by the end of the flick. It is sort of a Christian Barnard sort of film. The premise of it, I thought, was unappealing. With so much squalor, crime, disaster, war, and just plain meanness in the world, who needs to see a film that promises to reveal a part of life that good middle class Americans like me would rather not even know about? ( This is not really true in my case. I am lying). For it is a film about some children of prostitutes in Calcutta’s red light district.

The other direction I presumed was possible for this film was simply a message of despair, focusing on the need to throw money in that general direction. In this case the crusading filmmakers would be the heroes, and the world the enemy.

What this is instead is a realistic, sometimes brutal documentary of some bright children who have already changed the seemingly inevitable downward spiral of their lives. And the wonder of this is that they are funding the means to their success themselves.

The story of the film-

As the movie begins we see a few small, extremely thin children talking about their lives in the red light district. Most of the prostitutes have children (a few are even married with children) and they all suffer from neglect and exposure to a constantly dangerous, abusive environment. There is of course “the line”, and all that goes with it. There is crime, drug addiction and even murder common in their life experience. Looking into their eyes you see hopelessness, resignation to their inevitable fate and wisdom of things evil that a child should never have to experience. You are given a very good look. For the girls, they will take their place in the line of prostitutes. The boys are given even less direction and have few role models worthy of emulation.

One of the filmmakers, Zana Briski, has already gotten a living space in a brothel, in order to understand and photograph the lives of the women in Calcutta’s red light district. She sees and hears the children and observes the horror of their lives. Then, she begins a film class for the children who are from 10 to 13 years old. She gives each of them a camera (actually more than 1) and tells them to go out and take pictures of their world. She and her co-director, Ross Kauffman, teach the kids composition, and technical basics of photography but the results of this enterprise went way beyond this.

We see the world of each of the spotlighted 9 children, from their own eyes in their photographs, and the children in the eyes of the filmmakers. We see them finally as the children they are instead of the “little adults” they have learned to become to survive in their environment. And gradually the darkness in their eyes is replaced with something else. It is self confidence, and it is hope. Some find something they love to do and are good at, and for all of them it offers a unique opportunity to change their fate. Want to see how this happens? Well, you need to see the film.

There are some parts that can be disturbing and I would not advise parents to allow their children to see it. One of the boys in the film loses his mother, when her pimp sets her on fire in the kitchen and she burns to death. One of the boys is beaten and verbally abused. The danger of anyone taking pictures in this environment is emphasized. Crime does not like witnesses. Cameras are not welcome there. The very act of photographing in the red light district is proof of the courage of the children and their mentors.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

I found this to be one of the most artistically beautiful films I have seen in a long time. It photographs the rich colors of the world in daylight, and contrasts it with the harsh artificial light of the dangerous and busy night time. It is a world you can almost smell through this film. Briski and Kauffman did all the camera work. They also wrote and directed the film.




MUSIC

The music was perfect for the film. It had a distinctly East Indian sound. In some places light and almost airy as the children act like children, and in other places, the music is beautifully haunting, and sad. First –time composer (former actor, bus driver, and makeup artist) John McDowell gets the nod for this effort.

NOTE:

My friend Alex read this review and e-mailed me this information:
read your really great review about Born Into Brothels. Just to be clear,the John McDowell that wrote the score is not a first time composer, nor a bus driver, and certainly not a make (up) artist. You can see his bio at
www.johnmcdowell.net

I think there are several John McDowell's at IMDB.

I did not intend any insult by my commentary here, just to set the record straight. I really liked the music in this movie!

DVD EXTRAS

Every extra feature in the DVD (with the exception of film trailers) is worth looking at or listening to. There is a commentary from the two filmmakers, Briski and Kauffman, which I found particularly interesting, a commentary from the children themselves as they watched the film, some of the now famous still photographs from the children and from Zana. And there is an update on each of the children. If you had doubts about the intentions of the filmmakers, they will be dispelled.

THE CAST ?

There is no cast, only the children, you may not remember each name individually at the end of the film, but you will always remember their faces, their photographs, and their world through their eyes.

FINALLY

There are certainly differences in a Western outlook and that which still prevails in India. In Eastern religion there is an acceptance of the world in which you are born as part of your overall experience, as your soul seeks enlightenment through reincarnation through many life cycles. There is still a rigid class structure. The fact that the children lived in the brothel blocked them from some good schools, and even blocked them from getting passports. The only western idea or judgment introduced by the filmmakers to the brothel is that, simply , it doesn’t have to be that way. There is a way out. That the filmmakers were able to help to clear the path for these children is a testimony to their humanity. This is an outstanding film. It deserved that Oscar, and more.




Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age