Sin ✊🏿’s review published on Letterboxd:
Bulbul Can Sing is a magnificent example of why I crave and cherish international cinema so goddamn much. 💜
Imbued with a celebration of life from the lens of three rural Assamese youths, this film almost feels like a docufiction in how it intimately navigates the trio's close relationship and daily life experiences while also intricately observing the real lived texture of their village's culture and mores. Thus, I found myself compelled by both the loose narrative (which mainly feels like a meandering voyage) as well as the hella authentic and sometimes even educational depiction of the milieu.
A major component of this coming of age drama is the exploration of Bulbul (protagonist) and her two besties' (Bonny and Suman) sexual identities within the oppressive confines of a heteropatriarchal hegemonic context. While policing the sexuality of girls is the norm, it's an especially suffocating reality for Suman, a queer boy who must endure constant othering and homo-antagonistic bullying.
Despite Bulbul and Bonny consistently embracing Suman and sticking up for him, even someone seemingly always cheerful can reach their limit due to mistreatment. As he hit his breaking point, an emotionally taxed Suman asks, "How is it my fault? God made me this way. Am I the only one in the world like this?" 😢💔
The third act shifts from the sweet beauty that mainly defined the first two-thirds of the film into a more sobering, bitter ugliness following the trio's confrontation with moral police vigilantism. It's heartbreaking to witness the repercussions of this incident and how it forever mars and reorients not only their friendships but also their entire young lives…
Two memorable thoughts/tidbits that stick out that you'd only appreciate after watching this woefully underseen gem:
1️⃣ Can you imagine the need to hide pictures taken with friends?
2️⃣ The title is kinda playful but also so fucking perfect, but not in a way that you could even begin to imagine without having seen this.
🌟Why I Love International Cinema🌟
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