01.15.06

Movies: A Review of Two

Posted in Movies at 3:40 pm by Moody

Born into Brothels: Documentary; 2004; Unrated; 1h 35m. Highly recommended.

A bittersweet but ultimately uplifting look into the lives of eight children growing up in Sonagachi, one of Calcutta, India’s red light districts. Zana Briski, a photojournalist and founder of Kids with Cameras, gave each child a camera with which to document her or his world. The results were phenomenal and life-altering for many of the participants. Briski’s project differs from what one normally sees in a documentary; from the outset, it is obvious that she is very personally involved with the children. As she struggles with the children’s relatives and the government’s bureaucracy in order to help them escape a future with little or no hope, we see the world through the children’s photography and in interviews with each of them.

The children are endearing, though there is nothing saccharine in Born into Brothels. What is immediately apparent is that these are smart, inquisitive kids in dire straits. In their eyes is a maturity beyond their years, thrust upon them by the circumstances of their lives. It is apparent to them, as it is to us, that there is little hope they will ever have “normal” lives. The girls are especially at risk, as they are headed for “the line” - a life of prostitution on the streets. The boys are headed for the same dead ends their older male relatives have wound up in.

In the end, Briski’s efforts rescue a number of the children whose photography and lives we’ve been privileged to view, though not all the kids are so fortunate. Reviewer Collin Souter says it well: “Usually, documentaries ask hard, probing questions. Refreshingly, ‘Born Into Brothels’ is about a person with an answer”. In the end, the hard part of the movie is understanding that there is so much against any child in Sonagachi escaping, and knowing that, for the majority of children there, there is no escape. Briski shows, however, that something can be done (by someone in a position to do something), and her efforts for the children of the red light district send a clear and uplifting message. Her efforts are a clarion call for involvement where involvement is possible. She deserves a medal.

Me and You and Everyone We Know: Drama (with comedic elements); 2005; Rated “R”; 1hr 37m. Recommended.

Performance artist Miranda July’s strange and sweet debut film falls somewhere between Punch Drunk Love and Broken Flowers in tone and pacing, with a very light sprinkling of Welcome to the Dollhouse (sans the merciless self-hatred). “Offbeat” seems to be the keyword among reviewers, and it certainly is that. But to label it merely as offbeat is to miss its more accessible messages about love and the fleeting nature of our lives’ moments.

Following the lives of a few main characters through periods of transition and difficulty, July (who stars in the film) deftly hones in on the emotional pink noise that underlies daily life, extracting from it an intimate portrait of the human desire to lose oneself and thereby, with luck, find one’s meaning in what one loves.

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