"A child bride grows up to be an enigmatic woman presiding over her household, harboring a painful past as supernatural murders of men plague her village."
I Say...
I'd consider it less "plague" and more "purge" but I'm getting ahead of myself...
Horror Type...
Supernatural, Dark Fantasy, Fable
Main Players...
Tripti Dimri as Bulbbul (BAMF Bride)
Paoli Dam as Binodini (Bitch Sister-in-Law)
Parambrata Chattopadhyay as Dr. Sudip (A Doctor & A Gentleman)
I liked...
I liked...
- how this baby sucked me in and spat me out when it was through with me. It's a richly woven tapestry of a tale, an emotional rollercoaster ride I won't soon forget
- that this film is a proper feast for the eyes, from the gorgeously animated opening credits, to the use of colors in the clothing and decor, to the palatial digs Bulbbul calls home. Truly stunning.
- the fabulous soundtrack that, to me, acted a little bit like a Greek chorus
- the titular character, Bulbbul, very much--from the way she oh, so elegantly returned her bitch sister-in-law's snarks to how she gave big, rolling belly-laughs every time the Demon-Woman was referenced, to her care for the well-being of the innocents in her realm. Rock on, Bulbbul!!!
- that, out of all the awful men in this, the movie gave us one to like (Bulbbul's actual love interest, Satya) and one to admire (Dr. Sudip, who offers the best line of the film: "She's not a demon. She's a goddess!" F-yeah, Dr. Sudip!)
- how this feels, to me, like an origin story for a badass female vigilante super-hero (I'd love more of Bulbbul!)
The Meh...
- this bullet contains hidden trigger warnings for violence against women, and spoilers--just double click to select the space between the two sets of colons to see them :: As everyone knows, vigilante heroes aren't born of fluffy pink clouds and rainbows. Around the 54 minute mark, Bulbbul is savagely beaten by her fireplace-poker wielding husband (we see him swinging the poker and her reacting to being hit--this is more or less finished a little after the 56 minute mark). Shortly after Dr. Sudip treats her, Bulbbul's brother-in-law (her husband's twin, who is mentally challenged) goes to her, in the dark of night, and while she's incapable of moving, rapes her (from 1 hour, 6 minutes till about 1 hour, 9 minutes--we see him on top of her, reach down to unzip his pants, and move against her). Both instances are horrible to watch. Are they gratuitous? I don't know...some moments I think they could've shown more for shock effect, if they'd wanted to. Others, I wonder if it's OK that the beating scene reminded me of the colorful violence in the 300 movie. So I'm not sure, for myself, if it was too much. I reckon we'll all have to decide for ourselves. ::
- that flipping bitch sister-in-law--WHAT a piece of work!
Would I recommend it...?
Well...this one's hard for me to categorize. On the one hand, it's really an excellent movie, and I don't regret watching it. On the other, if I'd known about the stuff in the spoilers above, I might've opted for something else. I have a very hard time with realistic violence against women, and children, and tend to avoid movies, TV, or books with it, if I can. If you're also sensitive to this kind of thing, you could screen the flick and just fast-forward at the minute marks I mention in the spoilers. Fundamentally, it's worth watching and will make you think...but it may stay with you for a while...
Miscellany...
I've got a wee bit of a crush on Dr. Sudip--anybody got his number?
Ratings...
My Grade: A as a Dark Fantasy/Drama, B+ as a "Horror Movie" (though there's a LOT to the movie that's horrific)
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: Tomatometer=82%, Audience Score=80%
Details, Schmeetails...
Watch Bulbbul on Netflix
Learn more about it on Wikipedia (Contains Spoilers)
This concludes Day 6 of
Thanks for reading and come back tomorrow...
IF YOU DARE
Hmmm. That does look good. I'll have to ponder it.
ReplyDeleteDo consider it, it's a very worthy film.
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