BINDU
Sri Lanka, 2009, 97 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Somaratne Dissanayake.
Bindu is a film for children and family audiences, entertaining but with many messages relevant to Sri Lanka and to the wider world.
The focus is on elephants. For the farmers in the interior of Sri Lanka, they are a threat to their villages, destroying their houses and crops, even life. For conservationists, they are a protected species. This clash comes to a head in a village when it is destroyed and several people are killed. The film also shows children and their relationship to nature, a little boy and a little girl and their befriending the baby elephant, Bindu, and its mother.
Other themes include the effect of tourism, the destruction of farmland for building roads, the reckless behaviour of tourists, especially drunken tourists disturbing the elephants. There are also themes of political corruption, exploitation, business spivs destroying ordinary families because of the demands on money and the promises they made that tourism would change the village.
Because the film has a continual focus on the children, their happiness, the deaths of both parents of the little boy, the film has an emotional appeal for children even as they absorb the message.
1.The appeal of the film, Sri Lankans, Sri Lankan life, the elephants?
2.The gearing of the film for children, for adults?
3.21st century themes, the country versus the city, land and its exploitation, endangered animals and their protection, the law, corruption, victims?
4.The beauty of the Sri Lankan countryside, the farms and the forests?
5.The title, the baby elephant, elephants in themselves, threatening the farmers, needing to be protected?
6.The framework of the story, the children in the elephant orphanage zoo, picking out Bindu? The happy ending?
7.The children as the focus, the level of emotions for the audience, understanding the themes through the eyes of the children?
8.The village and the houses, the farms, the father and his guarding the village, having the gun, the elephants stampeding, the fireworks to frighten them away, the gun, the shooting? The reaction of the authorities? The little girl’s father and his lies, blaming the boy’s father?
9.The boy and the girl, their age, friendship, their families, walking in the forest, the boy going to his father, the encounter with the elephants and the stampede? The death of his mother and little brother? The scenes prior to this of family life? The boy and the girl and their sharing, arguments, blame, reconciliation? Climbing the trees, fleeing from the baby elephant, scared? The mother? Their food, the elephants taking the food, their returning, taming Bindu, riding Bindu, the happiness of this encounter with the elephants?
10.The attack, the devastation to the farms, the elephants pushing down the houses, the death of the mother and baby?
11.The businessman, his clothes and appearance, flaunting affluence? His discussion with the fathers? The tourist plan? Taking the tourists into the forest, the children riding the elephant? The temptation for easy money? The sudden appearance of the road, the destruction of the farms? The father arrested, the MP coming to taking him out, urging the father to lie? The building up of the hotel, the drunks and the disturbing of the elephants, leading to the stampede and deaths? Tourists keeping away? The failure of the business?
12.The impact of the visuals of the elephants, stampeding, their rampages? The contrast with the mother and the baby and the taking of the food? The mother berserk with the drunken tourists? Stampeding, killing the father?
13.The father, the elephant chasing him, trying to protect his son?
14.Police, their arresting the father for logging yet ignoring the corruption, the planting of marijuana?
15.The authorities, protection of the elephants, the meetings with the village people, the discussions, the threats to the farms, the comments of the old grandmother?
16.The orphanage zoo for elephants, Bindu being taken away and put amongst the others? The final parade at the end – and the children delighted to see Bindu, Bindu recognising them?
17.An entertaining film – but with a range of messages?
