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Born Into Brothels
ThinkFilm Inc.


8.9

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

This documentary is an inspiring look at the transformative journey of a group of extraordinary children in Calcutta's red light district. (ThinkFilm)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
DIRECTED BY:	Zana Briski Ross Kauffman
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 20, 2005 Theatrical: December 8, 2004
RUNNING TIME:	85 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	India / USA
LANGUAGE(S):	English / Bengali (with English subtitles)

Winner of the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 77th Academy Awards. Also received an Audience Award (Documentary), 2004 Sundance Film Festival.

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Boston Globe Ty Burr

This is the kind of film that reminds you of what movies, at their best, are capable of.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Compelling.

100

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

A superb and piercing documentary.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The title captures this film's harrowing qualities, but not its energy, its limpid beauty or its spiritual grace.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Creates such memorable images out of squalid surroundings that I sometimes wondered whether I was being distracted from the devastating stories of these kids by the beautiful cinematography.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A devastating portrait of impoverished Calucutta children.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

But as cynical as I may have been going in, I came out a believer.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is a record by well-meaning people who try to make a difference for the better, and succeed to a small degree while all around them the horror continues unaffected.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

It shows how the energy, and innocence, of children can be found - and fostered - in even the bleakest spots on earth.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The results are inspiring, demonstrating that an artistic eye is an innate thing.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Doesn't just bring you to the edge of the hopeless zone, it takes you right into its homes where the children play.

Time Richard Schickel

Very moving film.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Born Into Brothels will break your heart, then warm it up and leave you with that 7-Up longing to know what happens next to Zana's kids.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Seven years in the making, it demands to be experienced not just because of the good it does but because of how unexpectedly good, even buoyant, it makes you feel.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Why, then, should we be eager to see a story of such incomplete inspiration? Because it's thrilling, and stirring. And because it is truth.

The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg

This is a work of art so deep and resonant that it puts most narrative films to shame.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The resulting film is moving, charming and sad, a tribute to Ms. Briski's indomitability and to the irrepressible creative spirits of the children themselves.

USA Today Mike Clark

As inspiring as the story wants to be, its real drama is mired around the edges, where we get a sense of what it is really like to be born into a brothel.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Briski, a New York photographer, spent several years with the pre-teens. But she did more than just film them -- she tried to help them.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

A stirring documentary, and would be more so if it focused more on social problems than on Briski's own work.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

This film carries us so touchingly into their world, it would take a heart of stone, finally, to ignore them.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Rather than another oppressive film about poverty, it's a revealing experiment in perspective.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Often, the movie leaves you wishing Briski had found a way to document more of her subjects' day-to-day lives.

TV Guide Ken Fox

In a rare and inspiring example of the way art can both reflect and alleviate human suffering, photojournalist Zana Briski's wrenching documentary traces her valiant use of photography to help children trapped in one of the most wretched places on earth.

Chicago Reader Richard M. Porton

The children are not exactly reporters -- they bring back no shattering images of sexual servitude -- but their photography, like much children's art, is fresh and sometimes startling.

Film Threat Brad Slager

The brightest facet of the movie is that even as they face oppressive conditions they still persist with joy.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Favors unforgettable images over in-depth storytelling, and prioritizing electrifying moments over narrative arcs.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Even if the film itself is relatively conventional, its exposure of a squalid city's most benighted neighborhood and its introduction of hope into nearly hopeless lives give it strong human interest value.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Almost inevitably for a documentary of this stripe, it risks aestheticizing poverty--but here it's usually the kids themselves who compose the most arresting images.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Touching and saddening.

Empire Helen O'Hara

Some gorgeous imagery – mostly in pictures taken by the kids – and heartbreaking stories, but the directors' appearances sometimes feel self-indulgent.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Designed to be "inspirational," yet it shortchanges the complex reality of the lives it makes such a show of saving.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Dee gave it a10:
Its one of the best documentaries that not only touch your heart, but lite you up to bring your potential to something for the people. Its an eye-opener, I had never thought about those kids before! Now I am ready to adopt one of them.

Frank O. gave it a9:
Well constructed, did not want to care about this subject but director pulled me in through introduction of kids.

tom s. gave it a9:
Moving and extraordinary.

Paul F. gave it a9:
Great documentary, a little slow though with an aburt ending. The children were magnificent, playful and full of life. My favorite scene is of them dancing on the bus shot with grainy film. The tales were harrowing to say the least. The issue of their mothers being Prostitutes was not what bothered me but it was the poverty, drug addiction, forced labor, child prostitution, slavery, pimping & murder (which the law turned a blind eye to) that bothered me. The caste system seems still to be in effect. But on a up note it was nice to see someone spend so much effort to try to help these kids out of an utterly desperate situation. And in the end some of them did seem like they really had a chance for a better life.

Nelson D gave it a6:
A fascinating film, but I couldn't shake the sense that these people spent all this time to make a movie that would portray themselves as saints, and engender exactly the kind of reactions you read here. Are Briski's efforts, which ultimately have mixed results at best, truly selfless and noble if they are trumpeted in this manner?

tim m gave it a5:
It was alright. very pretentious and repetetive. i saw a doc on pbs the week before i went to this movie of similar content, yet the tv movie was much more interesting, well-constructed, and moving.

Judi R. gave it a9:
This movie really moved me, Zana Briski was so inspiring. I give her so much credit for what she di. What is she doing know I wounder?

Born Into Brothels ThinkFilm Inc.

Born Into Brothels
ThinkFilm Inc.