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Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids movie stills
Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The film says all it needs to say through the photos of the kids and their excited, wide-eyed reactions when they realize the outside world is paying attention to them. Read more
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: It's beautifully photographed and, thanks to its subject matter, sometimes intensely moving. Read more
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: This low-tech, buoyant, yet often heartbreaking film is miracle enough on its own terms, full of surprises and tragic reminders that many kids are robbed of their dreams and promise by exploitative forces. Read more
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: Before our eyes, Briski confronts and answers questions of exploitation that can shadow profilers of the downtrodden. Read more
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: This is a film about our world that deserves the attention and the audience that Michael Moore's films command. Read more
Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: One feels manipulated rather than enlightened. Read more
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: This is the kind of film that reminds you of what movies, at their best, are capable of. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A documentary that changed the lives both of subjects and filmmakers, it will reorder the worldview of whoever sees it. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The drama lies in watching [the children's] artistic educations sharpen their sense of self, change the way they observe the world, and affect their painful, squalid environment. Read more
Michael Booth, Denver Post: A success, though it is flat in its pacing and a bit self-congratulatory in awkward moments. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Born Into Brothels is designed to be 'inspirational,' yet it shortchanges the complex reality of the lives it makes such a show of saving. Read more
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Read more
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: Born Into Brothels is great humanitarianism, but it's not great filmmaking. Read more
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Will break your heart, then warm it up and leave you with that 7-Up longing to know what happens next to Zana's kids. Read more
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Some of the children's photographs are lovely, and the film has a thick, humid vibrancy to its colors. Read more
Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: Touching and saddening. Read more
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: The resilience that shines in the faces of these children, both in the photos and in the movie itself, makes one angry once more about the incredible waste of human potential caused by social and economic injustice. Read more
A.O. Scott, New York Times: Zana Briski's documentary about children growing up in Calcutta's rough and squalid red light district is moving, charming and sad. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: A beautifully made essay on a filmmaker's efforts to teach the children of Calcutta's prostitutes the fine art of photography. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie is a record by well-meaning people who try to make a difference for the better, and succeed to a small degree while all around them the horror continues unaffected. Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's one of the most inspiring finales I've seen in a long while. Read more
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Born of genuine research and a desire to shine light into the darkness, as all great documentaries must. Read more
Mike Clark, USA Today: Filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman find intermittent beauty without pushing our sentimental buttons. But the title promises more than the movie delivers. Read more
Todd McCarthy, Variety: Even if the film itself is relatively conventional, its exposure of a squalid city's most benighted neighborhood and its introduction of hope into nearly hopeless lives give it strong human interest value. Read more
Jessica Winter, Village Voice: The specter of long odds and narrow choices shades every frame of the film, yet the tone is often buoyant and legitimately inspirational. Read more
Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Heroism can come in subtle forms. This is one of them. Read more
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Heartwarming, heartbreaking and, finally, deeply haunting. Read more