StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Jim Kobayashi We all know the existence of Street children, the news keep broadcasting the footage of them constantly, and we all feel sympathy for them when we are watching it. But how long we keep that sympathy on our mind after watching those footage? couple of weeks? a day? I guess the most of us just forget about it in couple of hours because we all have own life and we all have something to do.But this film, Children Underground, have so much impact, and got me thinking about those street children for almost a month since I watched it. The most heart breaking scene is one of the kids cut himself just because he took other kids to the wrong park by mistake, and the other kids blamed him for it. He cut himself from his guilty feeling, and that was so sad because he think that's the only way to gain his forgiveness, and what makes it worse is that the adult who are supposed to be there and teach him those stuff is not around him.This film gave me so many "what if" I've never even thought about. What if I was born as a orphan? What if I couldn't fit in there? What if the only way to feel safe is using that paint thing? and I realized I might be just like those kids if I wasn't born to my parents.The film have so much impact and message, and would definitely make you think about something, something strong.

tbyrne4 Nightmarish look at the lives of Romanian kids living in a large subway station in Bucharest, most of the kids are runaways from abusive homes or orphans, and most are addicted to huffing a toxic silver paint called aurolac.The number of homeless children in Romania is very high due to a stupid decision made some years back to ban birth control. Many families in the current free market economy can't take care of the kids, who are shipped off to who-knows-what state-run childcare facility.The film follows a number of the kids. The stories are heartbreaking. The filmmakers decision to stay passive during filming is troubling. Obviously, they want to capture reality, warts and all, for the viewer. I can respect that. But its nevertheless disturbing to watch the filmmakers passively "watch" a weeping ten-year old girl get viciously beaten by a street gang (in the next scene her nose is broken) or a 12 old boy mutilate himself with a piece of glass. The lack of action smacks of hypocrisy, especially in a film that presents itself as an indictment of apathy.Trips to several kids' homes reveal worlds more menacing than life living on the streets.Of all the kids Mikhil seems like he has the most promise. He seems upbeat, with a lot of spunk, and talks about getting an education. Cristina, the eldest and leader of the gang, lords over them in ways that seem militaristic. Macarena, perpetually weeping and high, hands and face smeared with silver paint, seems the most fargone. The bottomless look in her eyes is the most disturbing thing about the film. Ana is alternately responsible and uncontrollable. She dotes on her little brother maternally.Heartbreaking movie. Children shouldn't have to live like this. Unfortunately, it is not just in Romania, all over the world this problem is widespread. I'm glad this film brings a bit of this to light

gulag 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 ofBucharest was deep and dark. My friends there kept shrugging their shoulderssaying; "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?

no_one_special This film shows the daily routine of a group of homeless Romanian children living in a train station. Anyone who has ever seen or read about the homeless knows how depressing it is, and seeing children in this state of affairs only heightens it. The children here are addicted to Aurolac paint, which they inhale to get high. While the subject matter couldn't be any more depressing, Children Underground is very well made and holds one's attention.