I DON'T USUALLY write top ten lists because it seems silly to rank one piece of art against another. But it's worth mentioning that "Born into Brothels", with its power to surprise and delight, is easily the best movie I've seen from 2004 -- the only one, really, that touched me in any significant way.

All I knew going into the movie was that it was a documentary focusing on the children of prostitutes in the slums of Calcutta. It seemed worthy of my time simply for that reason, but what I did not expect was a movie about photography.

Photographer Zana Briski wanted to document life in the red light district of Calcutta, the most stigmatized section of one of the poorest cities on earth. It's a place where cameras are deeply distrusted, so Zana began to live there, to get the people used to her presence. Instead she found herself the one changed, particularly by the children who surrounded her. She began to teach them photography, because it was all she had. To a place closed off by secrecy, she brought creativity, honesty, and light.

But this is not primarily the story of a Westerner sweeping in and saving the day. This is the story of children, still unbeaten by the harsh conditions of their situation, finding a voice through the camera. As we see their photographs, we see their world through their eyes, not the eyes of a distanced documentarian like in the Calcutta sequence of this year's "Five Obstructions". We see sadness and squalor, yes, but we also see kites and animals, colors and smiles. These photographs are not intended to elicit our concern nor abate it; they have no agenda. The photos are simply a record of their world, glorious and broken -- the only one they know.

As it turns out, the photographs are so powerful that they end up being transmitted around the world, from Amnesty International calendars to gallery auctions to global newspapers. It seems like the fame of these photographs will rescue the children. After all, from our Western perspective, what parents wouldn't want their child to have an education, move out of the slums, avoid the work of prostitution? But now we encounter the uglier side of human nature -- the ego, the tight grip of selfishness. Family tradition says these children should follow in their parents' footsteps, bring in money for the clan, not think they are better than their heritage.

Just when the movie finds unexpected light and joy in these slums, the true darkness of them overwhelms us. It's not just the thugs and pimps and outside prejudice that makes life so miserable, but the people inside who seem to have rotted, screaming and beating at anything weak. Relationships are corrupted but bind strongly. Superstition runs high.

Once we understand the environment, the more amazing it is that Zana made an effort to change it. Not only in terms of economics and education, which came later on, but with the simple introduction of a photography course. She gave the kids her time, attention, devotion, love, and the gifts of art and expression. She didn't know it would lead anywhere. She just wanted to offer them her art, to inform, guide, and strengthen their inner life. Even if the children's photographs had never left the red light district, I think she still would have felt she succeeded at something. I have to believe that investing in human beings is noble no matter the return on investment. On that account, the movie has a happy ending because it had a happy beginning.

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