What socio-cultural and religious implications does "The Clay Bird" have on its various audiences?
The "Clay Bird" is a Bangladeshi film by Tareque Masud, released in 2002. It entails the story of a young boy, Anu, growing up in a harsh, fanatic Muslim home in Faridpur, Bangladesh, where society strictly adheres to the cultural and religious norms. Tareque Masud, an independent filmmaker, was born and raised in Bangladesh, and through his daunting experiences, he depicts the tale of the young boy's life in a madrasah (an Islamic institution) and the many problems a family undergoes due to male domination, gender disparity and inequality among social classes. Masud's effective use of lighting, sound, characters, themes and dialogue help to convey experiences that trigger his audience with various emotions. This also assists in bringing about the themes of childhood, religion, war, politics and freedom. Additionally, Masud takes his varied audience into consideration and is successful in emanating various outlooks on a social environment such as this.
"The Clay Bird" is set in the late 1960's, during Bangladesh's movement for autonomy in the state of Pakistan. It depicts the time period when the nation was under military governance, aspiring for free elections in what was then referred to as East Pakistan (subsequently free Bangladesh). It is also a portrayal of a family tackling the impact of religion on their lives during the struggle for the nation's independence. The film shows the daunting and demoralizing experiences of the young lower middle class boy, Anu, who is sent away from home to a madrasah by his stern, orthodox father, where he befriends Rokon. During this time, Anu's younger sister falls extremely sick. However, his rigid father refuses to treat her with the conventional western medication. Meanwhile, Anu's mother Ayesha becomes increasingly resentful towards the conventional social role a female is expected to fulfill towards her husband. Soon, Anu's sister passes away, which accommodates room for plot and character development in the film. At the same time, Masud also illustrates a larger conflict between the nation's struggle to become a democratic society and the will and desire to institute religious control over the population.
The opening scene is quite interestingly crafted in the sense that it automatically emits the theme of religion, which acts as a significant part of the film. This is implied through the use of continuous sound of prayers in the background. Additionally, Masud also uses limited lighting, thus suggesting that the film is set in the countryside. The director also depicts male domination immediately after the start of the film, when an older caretaker at the madrasah corrects Anu while he brushes his teeth. This indicates ideas of authority, influence and power. This then sets the stage for the rest of the film. In addition, it is worth noticing the significance of the title "The Clay Bird". It plays a thematic part in the film as the 'Clay Bird' is utilized to symbolize one's soul. This displays that the souls of Anu, his mother and his sister are encaged and trapped, much like a clay bird in a cage. It also suggests that they are fragile and weak in a clay body where they are very limited with an immense desire to be free. All the characters are seen to pursue freedom. Anu and his sister want to be free willed, his mother wishes to be free of the conventions of society and Uncle Milon works towards national freedom. This therefore, successfully signifies the recurring theme of freedom in the film.
From the apparent themes creatively presented in the film, it seems as though Masud's purpose was to give his audience an enlightening vision into the socio-economic, political and religious conditions, the hardships particularly of women and children, and an insight into the male dominated society. Masud also successfully utilizes various characters by giving each of them unique and differing attributes, which assist in plot development and contribute in conveying the story to his audience. Anu's father, Kazi, is depicted as a very stern, rigid, and dominating man with extremist religious views. These characteristics are successfully portrayed as the character of Kazi is frequently seen to impose the idea of religion on his surrounding individuals, especially when he abruptly sends his young boy off to a madrasah as punishment for attending a Hindu festival. He is also seen to refrain from treating his dying daughter with western medication due to his solemn personal beliefs in homeopathy (a kind of medication based on roots and herbs). Throughout the film, he is also captured at a distance or in solidity, in dark and enclosed spaces, thus further establishing his character of domination and grim. However, rural or religious audiences may resent this as it sheds negativity on their practice and preaching.
On the other hand, Uncle Milon is depicted as a high spirited, patriotic young man. This is shown through his frequent appearance surrounded by his jubilant and joyous friends. He is also associated with entertainment as Masud creatively relates him to festivals such as the Hindu one visited by Anu and himself. These opposing characters cleverly crafted by Masud helps to bring about variety to the film and diversity to Bangladesh and its characteristics. Additionally, some humor is also incorporated as the two strangely have similar attributes, which can be seen in their strongly held beliefs, Milon's belief in the ideologies of Communism and Kazi's in the treatment of homeopathy. As noted by Elvis Mitchell in her article, "Such a need connects these men as brothers, and is gently mocked: "Kazi's homeopathy and your Marx party, both came from Germany"". Similar opposing characters are also seen in Anu and Rokon. Anu is depicted as a very passive and observant young boy, perhaps molded by his strict growing environment. This suggestion is emitted through the characteristic of his Father. He is also seen to be very obedient as he abides by his father's wishes and attends Madrasah far away from home. Contrastingly, Rokon is portrayed as a creative, rebellious boy who doesn't fear being different from others. This also assists in bringing about variety and diversity in the set context.
Along with the already mentioned cinematic techniques used by Masud, he also makes significant use of sound and music. "Baul" music, a type of Buddhist music is a very popular kind in Bangladesh, and not only in the rural areas, but is also seeping into the cities, which is why it is likely that it appealed to many urban and rural audiences of Bangladesh. Songs of freedom, independence and inspiration are incorporated in the film and the director also gives his western audience a tremendous insight into Bangladesh's folk traditions. This is also stated in an article written by David Rooney where he mentions, " the wealth of cultural and folkloric detail [of Bangladesh] also should help secure festival interest as well as modest exposure on the art house fringes." Therefore, this also assists in greatly enhancing and enriching the film culturally. Furthermore, the songs and its lyrics bring forth significant themes of the film, such as freedom and war. As Rooney writes, "Music is used resourcefully to further central themes, via Bengali oratorical duets and other songs performed in village concerts". Additionally, the songs performed in between some scenes also help to release the tensions built throughout the film.
What is also worth noticing is that the film is an autobiography so the director portrays everything from personal, first-hand experiences; he acts as a primary source to the film, which provides authentication to "The Clay Bird". David Rooney also writes that 'The Clay Bird', "returning to his [Masud's] childhood in the politically turbulent period" makes the production an "accomplished, emotionally involving film". However, in an attempt to explore the story from Anu's perspective, a certain distance tends to exist between the audience and the occurrences in the film, as Anu's role does not seem to be that of a protagonist's. Instead, the audience is more of an onlooker and the character of Anu is not utilized or explored to its full potential.
Finally, the closing scene is consequently after the climax of the film, where military forces enter Anu's village and cause gunfire and chaos. This particular scene is depicted through loud, pungent sounds creating a sense of fear and fright as the people frantically rush for a hideout. This is the pinnacle of the film as it accommodates room for character development. At this point, Anu's mother leaves his father along with others to seek safety. While this act by a woman would seem quite normal to the film's foreign and urban Bengali audience, perhaps it may be resented by the rural people, who hold strong cultural, social and religious beliefs.
This film is targeted towards a large population, which consists of western, rural Bengali and urban Bengali audiences. From how Masud crafted this film, it seems as though it would be more enlightening to his western audience as the occurrences that are depicted vary greatly from the ones encountered in the western world. The panorama, dialogue, and music give the western audience an insight into Bangladesh's culture, traditions and religion. Additionally, Bengalis in the urban developed cities would also be enlightened by this film however, would most likely disagree or resent and oppose the lifestyle and practices of fanaticism and male domination. Life in the cities of Bangladesh varies greatly from the harsh conditions depicted in "The Clay Bird" and many remain unaware of the issues encountered in the countryside. Therefore, Masud was successful in creating awareness as well as sharing his stories of his childhood among these audiences. Contrastingly, as mentioned earlier on, the rural audience is more likely to relate to this film as it is set in a village. However, as the film consists of depictions of one's desire to stray from the social and religious norms and practices in Faridpur, they have been seen to resent it to such an extent, that the government was obliged to ban "The Clay Bird" in Bangladesh. This similar fact is also stated in the article written by Felicia Feaster where she mentions that "The Clay Bird" was seen to be too "religiously sensitive".
In conclusion, I feel that it is just to say that Masud was successful in creating a film, which neatly portrays a social, cultural, political and religious persona of Bangladesh through the effective use of lighting, sound, characters and theme. However, Masud struggled in an attempt to illustrate the film from the protagonist's perspective due to the passiveness of his character, Anu, and due to poor camera use. Nevertheless, the film's social and religious implications on its various audiences are apparent and the extent to which the production has flourished at home and abroad is plausible.
(Nahar Khan is a student of Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada)
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