Margreet Cornelius, youre served promptly! ;-) Thank you, Louise Dagron, for this review! Toto and his sisters is a documentary about three children in a slum in Bucarest, Romania. They try as best as possible to cope with the shockingly distressing environment. Alexander Nanau who is Romanian himself directs the documentary. The film was released last year, in 2014. The film is successful in portraying the intimacy of this motherless family. We see and understand their situation that is a true nightmare. This documentary goes trough many human rights principles. Amongst the most important is education, the personal development of these young children. They try desperately to have a normal life. For this reason Alexander Nanau achieves in showing that even in the most precarious places there is still hope in broadening human interests through education. Indeed, their education is portrayed throughout the film as a process. First, a structured one, in school and in Totonel’s dance, and then at home, as shown by Andrea who uses her camera to provide another point of view. This documentary was psychologically heavy because it is painful to see those children struggling. They need to clean away needles and try to cook without a stove and deal with drug addicts and dealers. However, there are positive events during the film: Totonel is very successful at what he does, and Andrea keeps hopeful outlook about the future. This documentary is particularly well adjusted as it uses mise en abime effect, where scenes are shot through the lens of Andrea’s camera that allow us to have an unique connection to the characters. This creative element is important as it adds to the dynamism of the documentary and puts us at the frontline of their experiences. We are allowed to fully be part of their lives. The tragedy about this documentary, which ultimately is a story about an absent mother, is that when they are finally reunited she uses emotional blackmail to create a bond with her children. The response is cold and uninviting; they would rather spend their time in the orphanage.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 08:17:54 +0000
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