7/10
A gentle film filled with beauty and mysticism
3 March 2003
A little parrot who chatters incessantly is the star performer in this short film. It's a knowing little bird especially in the aspects of love. It can work a spell on lovers' hearts (just like Cupid can ) and can give advice on intimate acts such as foreplay. I thought it was an exquisitely mischievous bird in a beautiful palace setting as the sitars moaned and groaned their rather melancholy music.

Sadness reigned when the little bird flew off over the mountains beyond the clouds and was imprisoned in a cage by a bird catcher. But a young man Ratnasen set him free with the promise that the bird would lead him to Kurangi a beautiful princess residing in the palace.

The lesser characters are no more that a part of the moving scenery giving the cinemaphotographer ample opportunities for filming beautiful underwater scenes of naked girls searching for a string of pools dropped into the palace pool.

The sari costumes are no more than an artistic drape half-covering naked bodies. They are very sexy and so easily cast aside. There is constant reference to burning desire.

It's a refreshing mystical little tale and I suspect just a fragment of an age-old legend. It certainly has that feel about it. And I feel there are certain omissions. I think the title refers to the passing clouds which render what lies beyond invisible and out of reach. As for the final scene with a laughing fish on a dinner platter, I am still trying to find a reasonable explanation. Perhaps it is best left unsolved. After all this is a fairy tale where birds and animals seem to play an equally important role as human beings.
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