Product Description

Easily one of the most astonishing and engaging cinematic works of the past decade, CHILDREN UNDERGROUND is a profoundly intimate and heart-wrenching drama -- an Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature in 2001, and winner at nearly every major

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33828 in DVD
• Brand: New Video
• Released on: 2003-02-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
This astonishingly intimate documentary follows five homeless children in Romania, where the collapse of communism has led to a life on the street for 20,000 children. From a 16-year-old girl who runs her gang with a mixture of brutality and compassion, to a small, intelligent, and remarkably articulate 12-year-old boy, these children seem at first feral and frightening--yet over the course of the movie their loneliness, desperation, and glimpses of hope will transform how you perceive them. Make no mistake: this is difficult watching. As Children Underground explores the meager state resources to support these children and follows some of the children back to their difficult families, the scope of the problem becomes larger and more irresolvable. But this documentary offers an unblinking and deeply compassionate insight into the extremes of human existence; you will not forget it easily. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

have no doubts, a masterpiece
I stumbled upon this movie at the public library. It looked interesting although the subject matter a little "dark". All I can say is I have never, ever been more riveted my a movie in my life. Sure you say, but for me it was true. I could barely breath or move through the entire course of the movie. What unfolded on screen was beyond belief. How could mere children become so hardened and disfugured by their circumstances? The life of the children portrayed is so horrific as to suspend belief in a sane world. The filmakers unflinching lense (how they could watch what was happening with these children and remained focused on thier work is amazing enough) and the films almost real time approach make these children's lives unfold in a most tragic way. By the end of the film you are left drained and shaken to your very core. What a world we live in. And God bless the children. You must see it.

CHILLING...
CHILDREN UNDERGROUND follows a group of children living one subway station in Bucharest, Romania. These unwanted children exist as a result of Ceaucescu�s strict policy of outlaying abortions and birth control. Most grew up in orphanages while others lived with their families in dire poverty. They believe that their lives are better underground. This documentary films the daily exploits of these children along with the struggles they encounter to rehabilitate themselves. In order to attend school they must come clean and stop sniffing paint. In addition, they must have their identity papers, which are almost impossible for most of them. The most enduring parts of this film center on the interviews of the various family members of these children. Truly heartbreaking is the family of the small boy who doesn�t understand why their youngest child won�t return home. Watching this film will certainly make you appreciate the material things often taken for granted.

Take this journey... harrow your soul.
Having just seen the DVD of Children Underground I must say strongly that this film should be seen by everyone in the postmodern first world. I saw these things for myself in Romania during December of 2000. The apathy on the streets of Bucharest was deep and dark. My friends there kept shrugging their shoulders saying; "What can you do?" A documentary on the thousands of dogs on the streets would be a riveting nightmare in itself. While I was there they held an election. The choice of presidential candidates was reduced to a hard-line old school communist and a new school fascist. The Communist won. People shrugged. The train stations and subway entrances were indeed hives for feral children. I�m deeply grateful to Edet Belzberg for having the courage to descend into this manmade hell to bring these images back. It is my hope that the Romanians themselves find some of that same courage. I was moved that even at this stage of hell several of the kids held on to at least some idea of God. That could be seen by the cynically ironic of the West as the superstition of the hopeless, but perhaps it is also evidence that these children are not hopeless. To blame these problems on the lack of abortions or contraceptives is naïve and simplistic. Listen to the voices of the parents in this film. It is the apathy, the failure of courage and the utter selfishness reinforced by too many years of soul crushing communist dictatorship. We, ourselves, have no reason to gloat. Apart from having a surfeit of material possessions would we fare any better if the props were kicked from beneath us? Perhaps� perhaps not. This film, along with Lilja 4-Ever, is a warning sign of something growing in this world. Robert L. Kaplan termed it The Coming Anarchy. It will spread. Meanwhile how will you respond to these things? With compassion or with apathy?