The Yellow Birds

Movie

The Yellow Birds

Jahnu BaruaIndia – 1987

A simple farmer becomes the victim of a greedy landowner in this social melodrama. Bora is forced to give up the farm his father had paid for when the landowner asks for a mortgage receipt that was never given. He loses his livestock and sends his young son to work as an errand boy to the villainous landlord. Bora's ultimate humiliation occurs when he is forced to put up political banners that espouse the virtues of the man who drove him from his land and ruined his life.

Original Title The Yellow Birds
German Title Die gelben Vögel
French Title Les oiseaux jaunes
Other Titles Halodhia choraye baodhan khai
Directed by Jahnu Barua
Country India
Available Formats 35mm
Screenplay Jahnu Barua
Film Editing Heu-en Barua
Soundtrack Sarya Barua
Cinematography Anoop Jotwani
Sound Jatin Sarma
Production Dolphin Films
Runtime 120 Min.
Language Assam/d/f
Actors
Purnima Pathak Taru
Indra Bania Rosheshwar
Gaurav Bania Mohen
Shobhana Gogoi Moni
Hemen Choudhury Sanatan
Badal Das Mondol
Pranjal Saikia S.D.C.
Awards

National Film Award of India 1988
Golden Lotus Award for the best film

Filmfestival Thiruvananthapuram

International Film Festival Locarno 1988
Silver Leopard
Bronze Leopard - Spezialpreis für Indra Bania
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention

Amiens International Film Festival 1988
Best Actor     Purnima Pathak


«L'histoire de Rakeshwar n'est pas nouvelle. C'est toujours la même histoire, indéfiniment recommencée, de l'exploitation du pauvre par le riche, de la corruption, de la bureaucratie, de la dignité du pauvre, sans cesse bafouée. Ce qui est nouveau, c'est sans doute l'art de la narration. La forme choisie confère au film une dimension politique certaine. Les droits de l'individu y sont défendus contre une loi qui s'appuie non pas sur la confiance mutuelle mais sur des données nues et sèches et néglige les facteurs humains. Le film a une dimension politique aussi en ce sens qu'il souligne la nécessité pour le paysan de posséder sa terre s'il veut survivre.» Zoom

«The movement of the film based on exploitative land system, looks slow at the start but gradually looks up and gains tempo when Bora, the vigilant outsider, puts up a banner exhibiting his destiny which is forced upon him by the very feudal system ripping through India. Jahnu’s treatment of innocent and hapless Bora is special and seeped through crude weaving of time and tenor of the system Bora lives in. In the process, the film Halodhia Choraye enlightens the film-buffs as well as the people around him with logjam complicity.» Silhouette Magazine

«J'aimerais que le paysan qui regarde ce film puisse s'identifier au personnage principal. Si cette identification ne peut avoir lieu, alors à quoi bon choisir ce sujet? J'essaie de saisir le problème dans sa totalité. J'espère que le spectateur porte sur le problème le même regard que le paysan. Une approche plus complexe permet la fuite. Mais lorsqu'on présente une situation de façon simple, il n'y a pas d'échappatoire, on ne peut décevoir le public.» Jahnu Barua

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