The Galo tribe inhabits the densest forests of Arunachal Pradesh in the foothills of Eastern Himalayas. They have a tradition of trapping birds and it is custom to consume them as delicacies. We begin with Tajo and his friends who are on a hunt to find out who is abducting their trapped birds. They tend to forget the fact their, slightly older, neighbor steals those birds wanting to gift them to his wife who has a soft corner for meat, and he tells her that he does the trapping. When the boys find these traps empty they start blaming each other and in this case Tajo accuses Takay of stealing it. As a result of this, a brawl takes place between two of the boys whereas Takay ends up with a bloodied nose. After Takay shares the bitter incident with his elder brother, he devises a plan to beat up Tajo and some of their friends. This turns bloody when Takay ends up getting his arm cut off. This crazy event doesn’t end here as his rebellion family seeks revenge from Tajo’s family.
A quarrel breaks out between the wife of the thief and him, shortly after the wife finds out what has transpired.
Kar Sounak features in his film a low slasher b movie that demonstrates the local culture coupled with non-actor locals on a shoestring film budget. On several occasions, the outcome appears to be more akin to a gory b-movie, but the region’s distinctiveness is what truly sets it apart. This aspect is particularly visible in the cinematography where Kar passionately points out the tribal location enveloping and surrounding the forests, mountains, and rural huts and this way highlighting both the aesthetic appeal and the concepts of the region.
But apart from those, there are problems. To begin with, there is a certain over-the-top quality to the violence on screen. Kar seems to show that it is the disregard of the authorities that results in such provocations, but the other arcs such as the couple’s fighting, the couple’s romance, and Doken’s appearance bear Kar’s intention out to be quite different. It is clear that the aforementioned combination did not work particularly well for Kar, who seems to be in two minds about the direction his movie should take. If there is a comment that is clearly discernible, it is that violence is started by men and it is women who finish it, a thought that is repeated in the film for the reason that women are portrayed as much more mature than men.
In terms of the performance, it does become rather obvious on occasions that the actors have no formal training, and in this aspect, the guys are especially over the top for seemingly no reason, rather frequently I dare state. Women on the other hand are more skilled, with Talo Babing being quite competent as the Thief’s wife in her supporting role and Token Taba as the village head.
The fast pace of the film is the result of Kar’s editing, enhancing the overall enjoyment value of the movie as well as covering some of the movie’s flaws, up to a point, and the frequent cuts accomplish this purpose just the same.
“Bird Thief” is quite an interesting film given the fact that it is a genre of its own, and is however quite unfinished in quite a few respects. Nevertheless, fans of truly bottom of the barrel genre films will finally want to see this one, even just to have it in their collection, though not certain for the other crowds.
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