MIFF NOTES: The Black Hen (2015, Dir. Min Bahadur Bham)

Sometimes even before the first few seconds of the first shot of a film have expired you know you are going to enjoy it. So it goes with The Black Hen, Min Bahadur Bham's non-actored, chicken-scoped child drama set against the Maoist insurgency that tore at Nepal in the early '90s.

An age-worn villager, his bundle topped by a proud black hen stands in the middle of a sharp focussed mid-shot with a Nepalese valley extending out below him. There's not much more to it. A slow pan. A couple of neck jerks from the hen and I'm in love.

Min Bahadur Bham's film follows on in a similar vein. It is simple (a couple of kids seek out ways to earn back a hen one of the boys' fathers has sold on) but captivating, finding endless ways to bring new local characters into the frame and to push the impact of the Maoists' actions without completely demonising their cause.

The Black Hen is one of those films that engulfs with its imagery and sears with is emotional through line. Powerful poignancy.

★★★☆

Trailer:

The Black Hen screened as part of the Melbourne International Film Festival 2016.

You can check out other films from the festival here.