"The Clay Bird" (Language - Bangla) (2002) - Movie Review

“The Clay Bird” is a wavering trend on politically correct religion and the people who carry those divided, united, against and for it in the pieces of microscopic signs but with amplified frustrations assimilating day by day, in a family, in a madrasa (Islamic School) and as a country discomforted in the partial treatment from Pakistan. The film set in Bangladesh in 1971 which was the East Pakistan at that time is about a family, a village and the cultural trend of variance in religion and perceptions in those forms of society representations.

Anwar (Nurul Islam Bablu) or Anu as he being called is sent to madrasa by his father Kazi (Jayanto Chattopadhyay) a devout follower of Islam. In those strict regiments of rigorous fundamentalism, Anu finds a friend, Rokon (Russell Farazi) teased constantly by other kids of him being different. Anu’s sister Asma (Lameesa R. Reemjheem) is treated by her Kazi, a homeopathic practitioner whose treatment is not effective and against his wife Ayesha’s (Rokeya Prachy) constant request to go for a doctor believes to be god’s will. Unlike Kazi, his young brother Milon (Soaeb Islam) is liberated and actively participating in the political growth and often discusses with his friends about the philosophies of politics and religion. In those and some very interesting folk songs and stage stories we see the varied degree of faith in religion, politics and relationship.

Director Tareque Masud uses the colourful village lands, rivers and muddied lakes to his film’s cinematography. In the silent ambience of suppressed emotions he brings noisy attractions of village fair and flamboyance. Then he takes the cracked and scaled surface walls of the madrasa standing high but dull with the people of ignorant blind beliefs. Milon in his liberated mind says to the boatman Karim (Shah Akam Dewan) that the country’s current state of chaos and instability is due to the people like Karim taking blind plunge towards the abyss of religion. Karim replies with an undisturbed face of conviction that any true believer of any religion is not blind but liberated. But what is true believer of a religion? How does one measure that? How does one perceive that exemplification for an attestation? It is in perfect good will and the nature to accept the differences amongst each other and may be Karim is the true believer but does the name of religion wide enough and free of adulteration at all to trigger those?

“The Clay Bird” takes multiple perceptions of the struggling personality in a world of defined normality. Rokon amidst being mocked and isolated by his fellow students and put into foolish rituals of cleansing him of “evil” spirits wants to stay out there which he calls his only home. He needs the walls and he understands the place. Whilst being an outcast he has an asylum behind it. Similar to that is Ayesha suffering from male chauvinistic husband boosted by the fervor of religion in Kazi but wishes to stay in the house for her children. Finally is Milon in the passionate mode of liberation and equality stays at his homeland and defends in the form of free speech and resistance.

It is a patient film. It might not weigh those states of agony as heavily I might describe. But that is the actuality of life. It happens in pinches of actions in treatment of day to day events. In the school of how the teacher handles a subject and approaches a student, a husband in the way of treating his wife in her requests and a fellow human being in the outlook toward a stranger. These form the society of behaviour accumulating and representing itself to the outside boundaries of village, town, city and country. But it is not as simple as generalizing it is the purpose of the film. In changing politics and liberating views of that forewarned times of independence fight are these people standing in their values and beliefs. Milon even though is liberated does seem to mildly take a self righteous stand and Kazi who we come to know through the story of boatman used to be a “English” (westernized) and suddenly embraced or even tightened the grips towards Islam are changing personalities despite being blood brothers.

There is a beautiful ambiguous discussion of a teacher in the school, Ibrahim (Moin Ahmed) with his fellow worker Halim Mia (Adbul Karim) regarding the use of Islam for political purpose and how does it attribute as a religion and brings out a question of what constitutes Islam? Is it a country or a group of people as such? In his diplomatic discussion of his liberal views, while challenging his fellow worker, he challenges himself and wonders what that is which would make a religion or faith? The actual opinions buried in those talks not alone of him but all the characters in the film marks the specialty of “The Clay Bird”. In its multiple characters of various faiths the film clearly says a much wider opinion. We as people amidst the diversity are not that different to be accommodated into numerous religions or villages or countries.