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Cristina Ionescu, Mihai Alexandre Tudose, Violeta 'Macarena' Rosu

When Romanian dictator Nicolei Ceaucescu outlawed the use of contraceptives and encouraged his subjects to have more children in a bid to increase his nation's population, his campaign had a terrible ... read more read more...and dangerous side effect -- thousands of children were born to broken or dysfunctional families in a nation mired in political and economic instability, resulting in a large and rapidly growing population of homeless children in the city of Bucharest, with their numbers estimated at over 20,000. Children Underground is a documentary that explores this ongoing tragedy, offering a view of the larger problem and taking a closer look at the lives of five children living on the streets of Bucharest. Sixteen-year-old Cristina survived physical torture and a stay in a mental institution before escaping to Bucharest's Victory Plaza, where she's the hard-bitten leader of a gang of young hoodlums. Fourteen-year-old Macarena is a lost soul who gets through her days by sniffing paint fumes. Twelve-year-old Mihai comes from a home so fearsome he has opted to be homeless rather than stay with his abusive father, who once chained him to a radiator so he would not run away. Ten-year-old Ana is often beaten by older children, and like Macarena, blots out her misery by sniffing paint; she tries to protect her eight-year-old brother, Marian, who already bears the emotional scars of his violent and chaotic childhood. The first feature from documentarian Edet Belzberg, Children Underground received an enthusiastic reception and many positive reviews after its screenings at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

88% liked it

958 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

17 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Edet Belzberg

Release Date: January 19, 2001

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DVD Release Date: February 28, 2003

Stats: 101 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (101)

  • neffielee
    March 26, 2010
    neffielee
    Remembering reading about the horror of the Romanian orphanages a while ago, it's heartbreaking to see that life didn't get any better for these kids. If the point of making this documentary was to help these kids in some way, how could the crew stand by and watch these kids hur... read moret themselves and each other? I'm also curious to find out if this benefitted them in any way. Some were fortunate enough to get off the streets, while others were still wandering around helplessly. It's a well done documentary, but where's the line between being a documentary and exploitation of a situation?
  • KLFilmmaker
    July 18, 2008
    KLFilmmaker
    Wow. This is a spectacular doc. The footage shown is phenomenal and unbelievable. You have to see it to believe it.
  • photochicka
    June 18, 2007
    photochicka
    so, ive totally met a couple of the kids in this movie, and the statement in the synopsis that the maker of the movie didnt intervene in the childrens lives isnt exactly true. . . sexual abuse, anyone?

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Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer
June 16, 2002
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine

Almost unbearably sad. Full Review

Geoff Pevere
January 18, 2002
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Heartbreaking, urgent, unsentimental and unflinching. Full Review

Robert Koehler
September 24, 2001
Robert Koehler, Variety

Edet Belzberg's fearless aesthetic is also a measure of her film's brilliant indictment of any society that can allow its most vulnerable to slip into oblivion. Full Review

Jan Stuart
September 19, 2001
Jan Stuart, Newsday

A heartrending act of courage in the guise of a documentary film. Full Review

Stephen Holden
September 19, 2001
Stephen Holden, New York Times

A singularly depressing film. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
September 19, 2001
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

A powerful piece of filmmaking.

Ed Park
September 19, 2001
Ed Park, Village Voice

A horror story, told with Dickensian compassion, permeating outrage, and little hope. Full Review

Ron Wells
December 8, 2002
Ron Wells, Film Threat

I think the most important aspect here is that this subject is at least being addressed. Full Review

Daniel Eagan
December 9, 2001
Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International

Although technically ragged, the film packs a devastating emotional punch. Full Review

Ken Fox
September 19, 2001
Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

Homelessness is all too familiar to many inhabitants of the world's wealthiest cities, but rarely has the situation seemed so hopeless, or its victims so desperate. Full Review

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