Queer TIFF: "Bulbul Can Sing" and "Giant Little Ones"

by Chris Feil

Crafted with a Malickian grace, though with its feet planted more firmly on the ground, Rima Das’ Bulbul Can Sing is a coming of age tale of deep feeling. Set in rural India, many of its notes will seem initially familiar: the innocence of first loves, rampant patriarchal demands, the unity of friendship broken by consequences. What makes this film sink deeper is its refusal to reduce its punishment for the sake of comforting, motivational sentiment. Respecting the humanity of its teenagers, its uplift comes from a human spirit impossible to snuff out completely.

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