Born into Brothels

(2004, Ross Kauffman & Zana Briski, USA)

rating = 76

You know going into this film - the story of children born into the brothels of Calcutta - that it will be a tragic and sad film.   What you don't realise is the humour and (yes, I'm going to say it) hope that will also be an intregal part of the story.   And I'm not talking about that schmaltzy Spielbergian hope that you might expect, but real honest-to-God hope.

Born into Brothels is the story of one woman, a photographer and filmmaker, who has decided to actually live in the squalor of the red light district in oder to vainly attempt to save these children from the life that awaits them.   Auntie Zana, as she is called, teaches the children photography in the hopes of getting them into schools and out of their current misery. You know, of course, that she will fail on most accounts - but she does manage to save some of them.   One even gets a chance to fly to Amsterdam to show his photography (all eight of these children end up as naturally great photographers).   This film reminds me of the spelling bee documentary, Spellbound, obviously not for the same plotpoints, but for the children - in both films you fall in love with these kids.   in Brothels, the love just happens to take on a tragic air, due to the horror of their reality.

A film filled with desperation, disaster and (here I go again) hope, as well as some rather funny moments naturally erupting. You can see what will become of most of these kids and this film doesn't overlook that - it faces it head-on - which is why the film works so well.   It never delves into oversentimentality or manipulation - it just tells the story and lets everything happen naturally - for good and for bad.