Thursday, November 29, 2012
KIDS
Today's film was a NYTimes Critics' Pick and won a jury award at Cannes. Maïwenn's
She is also one of the many lead actors in this documentary like account of the Paris Child Protective Unit.
Frank and understated at the same time, this film is riveting. It is novel. Something never seen before. Extensively researched. Based on ten, it seems fifty, real cases. Maïwenn spent much time with the unit. It took her a couple of years to put together and get permission to use child actors.
As she points out, this prevented using anything explicit. She realized in editing that this was a blessing because the "action" such as it was now took place in the minds of the viewer which, mostly, is much worse than the actual thing.
Many of the cases are about sexual abuse but many are about other things. Abandonment, homelessness, teen pregnancies and so on.
There are a few victories. There are some very upsetting things but none are sensational.
There is an ongoing romance. Something for everyone. And a change of pace. Some hilarity as well.
I liked it a lot. The subtitles are very rich and so they go by rather fast.
I would not mind seeing this again. It is very good. I do not think that I missed anything. No loose ends. A 4 out of Netflix5.
