Cert PG
91 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, violence
It is three years since Mrs W and I made our only visit to India and what still resonates with us is the wretched poverty of the slums and the smiles of the children who lived there.
They clearly didn't have much in material terms but, at the time, we mused on whether they were happier than all of the privileged Westerners on our tour bus.
I have seen no film which taps into this joy in adversity better than M. Manikandan's The Crow's Egg.
I was sent a link to the movie by the very splendid folk at herotalkies.com who expressed surprise that I was chasing it down because they did not believe it had been shown in Europe and that the film was actually released in 2014.
Including it in 2017's roster may not be correct but it has played at Broadway Cinema, Letchworth and is listed as a new release on filmdates.co.uk
Such questions are at the centre of the everyfilm challenge but I am very glad I opted for trying to see the Crow's Egg because it is a cracker.
At its heart are two wonderful child actors, Ramesh and J.Vignesh whose characters live with their mum (Aishwarya Rajesh) and grandmother (Shanthi Mani) in a shack among hundreds of slum dwellings in Chennai.
The boys have been taken out of school so they can collect coal at the side of the railway, bringing in a pittance to pay for food.
Their pleasures are small but significant - for example, with the encouragement of their gran, they climb trees in search of crows' eggs and drink the yolks with relish.
And when they see a new restaurant opening, they set their hearts on eating a pizza which to them seems incredibly exotic.
Their desire for this mysterious food which we in the West would see as cheap and convenient becomes a parable for the huge gulf between the haves and have-nots in modern India.
Manikandan's writing and direction enable the viewer to immerse themselves in a country which is rarely seen at the movies.
His ideas are beautifully brought to life by a cast with the cast playing out the story with deep realism.
It amounts to one of the best Indian films I have seen and one which I was definitely thankful to have watched - whether or not it fitted my strict criteria.
Reasons to watch: beautifully encapsulates the real India
Reasons to avoid: short of big action scenes
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8.5/10
Star tweet
Sanket Just saw this Tamil film called 'Kakka Muttai' (TheCrow'sEgg). What a beautiful film! Must watch.
