Sounak Kar is an alumnus and assistant professor of Direction and Film History at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata. He is an independent writer, director, cinematographer and editor and has worked both in fiction and non-fiction genres. “Bird Thief” (Peta Dochcho) is the first feature film in the Galo language, a rare language spoken by the little known ethnic Galo tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Kar stayed with the locals for a long time and collaborated with the local movie enthusiasts of Basar in Arunachal Pradesh and ended up writing, directing, shooting, editing, and even handling the sound design of the film.
“Bird Thief” review is part of the Submit Your Film Initiative
In the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, amidst the dense forests of Arunachal Pradesh, resides the Galo tribe. Bird trapping is one of their age-old traditions and bird meat is considered to be a delicacy. As the story begins, a group of teenagers headed by Tajo keep finding the trapped birds stolen. Unbeknownst to them, it is a slightly older local who is actually stealing them, in order to give them to his meat-loving wife, who thinks he is trapping them himself. However, after the boys find a number of empty traps, they turn to each other, with Tajo accusing Takay for being the thief. A fight ensues between the two boys, and Takay is left with his nose bleeding. When he informs his older brother of what had happened, he takes him and another friend and goes chasing Tajo, in a series of events that lead to the latter almost getting choked, and Takay, with a severed arm. Inevitably, the families of both boys get involved, Takay's asking for revenge and Tajo's trying to prevent the boy from having his arm also cut as punishment. When the wife of the thief finds out what is happening, a fight among them also ensues.
Shooting with a micro-budget with local non-actors as protagonists, Sounak Kar tried both to highlight the local culture and come up with a genre movie that revolves around the concept of revenge. The result looks much like a b-movie slasher on occasion, but it is the local flavor that makes it stand out. This last aspect is particularly evident in the cinematography, with Kar highlighting the tribal setting, including the rural houses, the forest and the mountains with artistry and gusto, highlighting in this way, the beauties and overall sense the area emits.
Regarding the rest of the aspects, however, there are some issues. For starters, the actions of the protagonists and the overall proneness to violence seems somewhat extravagant. One could say that Kar wanted to make evident that the neglect of the authorities is what leads to such events, but a couple of other arcs, including the fighting of the couple, the romance and the appearance of Doken move the story into completely different paths. It becomes evident that the aforementioned combination did not work particularly well for Kar, who seems to be uncertain regarding the path he wanted his movie to follow. If there is a comment that is quite clear is the fact that violence starts by men but it is the women who end it, in a concept that is repeatedly highlighted in the movie, additionally because the female characters emerge as much more mature than the men.
Regarding the acting, that the actors are amateurs occasionally becomes painfully obvious, with the boys in particular being excessive on occasion for no apparent reason. Women on the other hand, are much better, with Talo Babing as the Thief's wife being quite convincing in her catalyst role and Token Taba as the village head following suit in the same fashion.
Kar's editing results in a fast pace that both adds to the entertainment the movie offers and manages to mask some of its issues, to a point at least, with the frequent cuts working nicely in both regards.
“Bird Thief” is definitely an important film considering its uniqueness, but is also one that is quite amateurish on a number of aspects. Fans of extremely low-budget genre titles will definitely want to watch this, even as an addition to their collection, but I am not sure about everyone else.
