OSCARS 2024: To Kill a Tiger (2022)

It is still really hard to be a woman in this world. Back in 2022, among the Oscar-nominated documentaries was “Writing with Fire.” That film illustrated some of the difficulties women face in India in the modern age. (And before that was “Period. End of Sentence,” which shown even basic feminine biology sometimes struggles to be recognized.) In the years since then, filmmakers continue to focus on the women of India and their fight for equality. “To Kill a Tiger” is another nominated documentary, focusing on this plight. Or, at least, one case in particular that can't help but speak to wider issues facing the country. India-born, Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja directs, presumably giving a culturally – and gender – specific perspective on this story. 

“To Kill a Tiger” focuses on Ranjit, a simple famer living in Jharkhand. His thirteen year old daughter, while attending the wedding of a friend in the village, is brutally raped by four different men. Ranjit seeks justice for his daughter by finds the process to be difficult. The local authorities refuse to do anything but the bare minimum to help. The community leaders repeatedly suggest the matter be swept under the rug. Yet Ranjit refuses to give up. He teams up with women's rights organization to take the case to a higher court, while facing threats from other forces. 

“To Kill a Tiger” is one of the most frustrating films I've seen recently but not because it's a badly made movie. Repeatedly, every time Ranjit and those working with him attempt to further his fight for justice, he is faced with the same answer: Why doesn't Ranjit's daughter just marry one of the men who raped her? The local authorities suggest this. The old women in the village say the same thing. People repeatedly throws this answer out there, as if it is a totally reasonable solution. Everyone says that this will keep further shame from coming to the village, which they seem to consider more important than a girl being horribly raped. Whenever someone suggests that a woman probably would not want to be married to someone who violently attacked her, people counter that this is how it's always been done. 

To hear this suggestion, so absurd as to be become vulgar, repeatedly thrown out there is absolutely infuriating. I can only imagine how it made Ranjit feel. Most of the men in the film try and shift the blame to the girl. Saying she shouldn't have been alone, that she must have done something to attract this attention. They all seem more concerned with resolving the issue as quickly as possible, that further legal proceedings might ruin the boys' lives. These are the kind of excuses we've all heard many times, any time the topic of sexual assault comes up. India and America might be very different places but it seems men, in every country and culture, are eager to blame literally anyone but other men whenever a young girl is attacked and raped. 

I suppose you could criticize the makers of “To Kill a Tiger” for centering its story on Ranjit, the father, instead of the girl herself. This decision seems to mostly have been done to protect the daughter, though she is interviewed and on-screen multiple times. Ranjit does strike the viewer as a fascinating man. He repeatedly blames himself for failing his daughter. He says over and over again that he should've protected her. The regret and pain he feels is always clear. Yet, despite the monumental pressure on him to give up, he never stops fighting for his daughter. Countless people around him insists he accept the ways things have always been done but he stands up for change. He's a brave, humble man.

“To Kill a Tiger” does have one of the more satisfying endings I've seen this Oscar season. It's a powerful film, that shows that sometimes justice can be done if people keep standing up for what is right. Questions linger in the air, what the fallout will be, and the movie quickly addresses them in a pre-credit title card. The filmmakers do not just present this story as it happened, as compelling as it might be. They suggest and attack the structures that cause these things to happen, holding up a mirror to the faces and forces that causes these crimes to happen. That is what documentary filmmaking is all about. [7/10]