The Clay Bird

When I began to watch this film for the first time, I knew that it was a good film and was in the limelight that time. At first I was little bit bored because the film was going little slow. But as the film continued, my boredom turned into excitement and by the time the film finished, I was fully contented. Casting, acting , plot everything was great and perfect. It may be called an art film but as entertaining as well. Those who are familiar with Bangladeshi culture would realize the demand of such kind of a film. It tells the story of superstitious and conservative culture of the then East Pakistan. Some parts of the culture are alive in the villages till now. So this film has a great social significance. Its director Tareque Masud said that he made this film based on his childhood memories. That's one of the main reason of its success. Its based on reality. It represents our traditional cultural structure. Looking forward to watch more great films like this.

This was one of my surprise favourites of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2002. It painted a rich picture of life in Bangladesh during the revolutionary period of the 1970's with all it's highs and lows. It is filmed in a very documentary style (the director is a seasoned documentary film maker) with all the facts carefully shown to allow the viewer to make up their own mind on things. The visuals are very clean and colourful (again very documentary-esque) with beautiful shots of the fantastic Bangladeshi landscape. The music used in the film seems to be traditional (not that I know much about traditional Bangladeshi music!) and is very touching.

What is truly remarkable about this film is the way all it's points are well balanced, not showing anything to be absolutely right nor wrong. It's portrayal of Islam is fascinating and I learned more about the religion than I'd known before.

Another astonishing point I got from the film was it painted such a good picture of humanity, warts and all. I was watching this pictures of a normal family who's lives are supposed to be so much different than mine, different culture, politics, religion, who live on the other side of the world and yet then seemed so natural and so familiar, not that different at all really.

It's a film I will never forget and I truly recommend that anybody who gets the chance to see it should.

"""""0 out of 3 people found the following comment useful:- Too many characters and too little story., 13 October 2003 Author: Meejoir from Newcastle, England

I was very disappointed with The Clay Bird.

I found that the story chopped and changed from one character to another all to frequently, failing to stay long enough on one part of the story for you to really care what was happening.

Yes, some of it was beautifully shot, but I have said this before with other films, is it possible to not to have glorious scenery in a place as geographically beautiful as Bangladesh?

I would rather the story concentrated on 2 or perhaps 3 of the characters, giving a far more detailed account of life in this traumatic part of Bangladesh's history.""""

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To Meejoir from Newcastle, England, Don't think this story from the perspective of your culture. You said"Too many characters and too little story." but it based on a great history of Bangladesh and the different mentality of our people..

This movie is simply rich in its story, casting and direction. TWO THUMBS UP !!!

The Clay Bird, or "Matir Moina" succeeds in reminding Bangladeshis that we have long ignored the basis of our religious beliefs and cultural practices. The spread of Islam was not brought about by the sword alone, but by mystics and Sufis who believed that the love of self and the love of mankind was a spiritual journey in itself. I thoroughly enjoyed the musical score, consisting of a handful of Bangladeshi folk-"Baoul"- songs, performed by skillful musicians. The acting was not exaggerated, although some expressions of emotion in certain scenes seemed a bit contrived. Generally, it was a commendable job all around, a well put on show by ordinary, everyday people who were given a sudden chance to act in an independent movie about extraordinary events in the lives of ordinary, everyday people. The use of unsure, self-doubting, often confused characters, instead of black and white caricatures with clear-cut agendas, infuses this film with life and allows, even invites, Bangladeshis to identify with the sub plot. This movie is worthwhile watching for the musical score alone.

Tareq Masud excels as the director of "Matir Moina". His early works on the glorious liberation war "Muktir Gaan" & "Muktir Kotha" - his other masterpieces clearly shows the rise of an world class director.

Here he ables himself to portray the beginning of the revolution before the 1971 war with a cool picture of a village where religious strictness & openness both coexists and puts Anu - the central character with a different view. This is the real picture of a moderate muslim country like Bangladesh - where some people are regularly trying to shatter the image of the nice country. This movie will clear the views of the worldwide viewers about Bangladesh.

It can be said that this should be a tough contender in the Oscars. Good luck Tareq Masud!!!!!!!!!!!!