• Mira Nair’s first feature after working in documentary films and that experience is certainly put into play here (location shooting, non-professional actors largely in the cast). This is realism, from the Italians in the 1940’s to the Apu Trilogy in the 1950’s and the Dardenne brothers in the 1990’s and beyond. I do think this has a bit of an element of Bunuel’s Los Olvidados (1950) to it—we have a harshness here, robbery, peeing in public, drinking, pimps, hash and a junkie friend
  • Nair spent a lot of time in prep following and studying kids living on the streets of Bombay
  • a gritty look at poverty—violence and language, the purchasing of children- Dickensian
  • like the Dardenne brothers- there is really a simple task here driving the story: the little boy Krishna is trying to save up enough money to go home and see his mother. There is a devastating scene of him lying on the ground crying saying “I want to go home”
  • I think it is tempting to discuss it with Slumdog Millionaire – the Danny Boyle film from 2008- but Boyle is largely an expressionist and Nair’s approach is realism. So though there may be some content and location overlap—we’re talking about contrasting styles
  • The final hold on Krishna’s face is painful—a great choice. Truffaut’s 400 Blows. And then a dedication to the kids on the streets of Bombay
  • Recommend but not in the top 10 of 1988