This interesting, accomplished movie is set in what is today Bangladesh in the late 1960s, just before it gained independence from Pakistan in a bloody war. The film is mostly about how a family living in a village is affected by the political changes coming.
Kazi, the father, is a strict Muslim who does not want his children to be tainted by secular ideas. He sends his son Anu to a Madrassa and is angry when his brother, the bespectacled, open minded Milon brings Anu to watch a Hindu festival. His obedient though doubtful wife, Ayesha, quietly expresses her concerns and feels more and more at odds with Kazi's religious fervor (the movie is quite critical of Islamic fundamentalism, and because of that it was released in Bangladesh only several years after it was filmed) Kazi's is loyal to Pakistan, and is devastated when he learns of the war coming in which the Muslim Pakistani army attacks and massacre Muslim Bengalis. His brother Milon, on the other hand, favors the Bengalis and decide to fight the Pakistani army.
The director has sympathy for all his characters -even the harsh father is given a reason for his actions. This is indicative of a humanist approach to cinema. In that sense, it's easy to relate this movie to the Asian tradition of social realist cinema to people like Satyajit Ray (especially his Apu trilogy), Ritwik Ghattak or the earlier films of Abbas Kiarostami.
Is there a flaw in this movie? At times, their characters express too directly their political views. If it would have been just a little more subtle and less didactic in that regard, it might have been a perfect film. Bengali folk songs are nicely intercalated during the movie, mostly explaining the religious and political situation.
Kazi, the father, is a strict Muslim who does not want his children to be tainted by secular ideas. He sends his son Anu to a Madrassa and is angry when his brother, the bespectacled, open minded Milon brings Anu to watch a Hindu festival. His obedient though doubtful wife, Ayesha, quietly expresses her concerns and feels more and more at odds with Kazi's religious fervor (the movie is quite critical of Islamic fundamentalism, and because of that it was released in Bangladesh only several years after it was filmed) Kazi's is loyal to Pakistan, and is devastated when he learns of the war coming in which the Muslim Pakistani army attacks and massacre Muslim Bengalis. His brother Milon, on the other hand, favors the Bengalis and decide to fight the Pakistani army.
The director has sympathy for all his characters -even the harsh father is given a reason for his actions. This is indicative of a humanist approach to cinema. In that sense, it's easy to relate this movie to the Asian tradition of social realist cinema to people like Satyajit Ray (especially his Apu trilogy), Ritwik Ghattak or the earlier films of Abbas Kiarostami.
Is there a flaw in this movie? At times, their characters express too directly their political views. If it would have been just a little more subtle and less didactic in that regard, it might have been a perfect film. Bengali folk songs are nicely intercalated during the movie, mostly explaining the religious and political situation.