IMDb user comments for
All the Invisible Children (2005)

advertisement

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Index

8 comments in total

---

19 out of 26 people found the following comment useful :-
Kusturica and Spike Lee save the day, 28 junio 2006

Author: debblyst de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"All the Invisible Children" is an attempt to depict and understand how the world is (mis)treating its very own future -- the children of the 2000s. The seven episodes are directed by Mehdi Charef (from Burkina Faso), Emir Kusturica (Serbia-Montenegro), Spike Lee (USA), Kátia Lund (Brazil), Jordan & Ridley Scott (GB), Stefano Veneruso (Italy) and John Woo (China). Some thoughts on each of them:

TANZA -- Mehdi Charef's episode could have been powerful; after all, 10-year-old children carrying machine guns and fighting real wars are a horror the world never knew before the mid-20th century (it's not been going on for decades or centuries, it can be reversed!!). Unfortunately, Charef opts for a lush, stylish, Nike-ad-like photography (to portray such a bleak existence!) and an unlikely, dreamy, contrived finale that weakens the whole effort. One of the least successful episodes, regrettably.

UROS -- Then comes Emir Kusturica's volcanic life force! Undoubtedly the best episode, Kusturica uses his megawatt energy to follow young Uros' last day in a reform school -- but is he really willing to leave? In barely a few minutes, Kusturica sketches full characters through wonderful casting and small precise touches, using gypsy music like a snake charmer; and suddenly it's like we've KNOWN those people for years. The optimistic warden, the clumsy orchestra leader, the sleazy father, the smart little brat smoking...Kusturica has this special gift for mixing broad comedy, social comment and acid sarcasm, and brings up an uncomfortable question -- which is more dangerous for delinquent kids, the violence they have to put up with in reform schools or the one out there in the streets? If you only have time to see ONE episode, this is it, hands down.

Jesus CHILDREN OF America -- Spike Lee's episode is rather irregular, but ultimately successful because of his very contemporary and unadorned look on a complex subject: HIV+ children in the 2000s. How has the world been treating them now that the disease has faded into the background of the media's interest? Lee shows us teenage HIV+ Blanca, chased around by schoolmates who make cruel, remorseless fun(!) of her condition. At home, things also suck, with her junkie, hopelessly irresponsible HIV+ parents (the father is a Gulf War veteran). Blanca startlingly becomes aware that she will have to face a lifetime of prejudice and discrimination and will probably have to deal with her disease all by herself, with very little help from family, friends, school, society or government (and that in America, mind you!!). There is also a great scene about America's fascination (and desensitization) with violence, when Blanca and sassy schoolmate LaQueeta get into a fight at school and a bunch of school kids immediately take out their cell phones to snap shots at their fight. Bull's eye!

BILU E JOÃO - Kátia Lund (co-director of "City of God") goes against the current and makes an optimistic film about one of the harshest places in the world to be a young destitute child: Brazil. The theme is child labor, but you may not even notice it, as Bilu and João seem so resilient and upbeat you might think it's an OK choice for small children to earn their own living carrying and selling heavy junk instead of going to school. The editing is hectic and confusing, and the children are artificially directed to look cute. Misleading, superficial and disappointing.

JONATHAN - Ghastly... Jordan Scott and her father Ridley are so alienated they seem to inhabit Dreamland...or aristocratic England (which is just as bizarre for the rest of us). This is a crappy, silly fantasy about a disgrace-photographer (you know the kind: they photograph poverty and famine, and make piles of money selling their work to art galleries and highbrow magazines) who's having an angst fit. He flashbacks to his idle, privileged, proper British childhood, but finds time to dream of protection for young war refugees. This is the worst sort of patronizing b***s**t, filmed like a country house ad. It's a vain, stylized soufflé by people who had nothing important to say.

CIRO -- Ciro is a Neapolitan boy, ignored by his parents, whose petty (and not so petty) thefts are an example of teenage delinquent behavior that's become nearly endemic in Naples and in the world's major cities. There are also very discreet shades of pedophilia. The real interest here, though, is Vittorio Storaro's vibrant, almost palpable cinematography with a mesmerizing color and light palette -- the scenes where Ciro plays with his shadow against the sunlight are astonishingly beautiful and touching. But inexperienced director Stefano Veneruso remains in the shadow too; all we care for are Storaro's canvases.

SONG SONG AND LITTLE CAT -- or how John Woo managed to outdo Shirley Temple's Depression pictures!! Not since the 1930s has there been such in-your-face schmaltz, such mawkish artificiality in telling the story about the fate of two young girls (rich-but-unhappy Song Song and homeless-but-with-endless-joy-in-her- heart Little Cat). It's so sickeningly cute it may give you a hyperglycemia shock. And somebody's got to tell Woo it's time he let go of those irritating slow-motion shots.

"All the Invisible Children" faces a gigantic task: to denounce the horrors children face daily around the world while trying to strengthen our hope in the(ir) future and making us think out ways to help. A VERY hard task, because the real world keeps relentlessly crashing our hopes by the hour. My vote: 6 stars out of 10, though I'll always give a 1,000 stars for anyone ready to make films about unprivileged and abused children, the world's biggest and most urgent political issue.

---

21 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
Unforgetible for a long time, 21 octubre 2006

Author: kristukaz de Lithuania

I have seen it today. And i saw it in Italian though i understand this language only a little.it was shocking, amazing, sad, interesting, boring. First i wanted to turn off, then - i was interested, then i was shocked and in the end i cried (for long hour). It's bunch of films which shows different living of children. these aren't films which shows only happy ending, happy heroes which has almost everything. here in "all the invisible children" you can see the real life, without embellishment, a reality which usually isn't shown on TV or movies. Reality which we are blind to. I suggest to see this film, because it's just so beauty!!! It's educate humanity.and in my opinion a lot of people should see this film to understand that all we are happy that we have almost everything and still we're crying that we don't have enough money...

---

19 out of 30 people found the following comment useful :-
amazing, 9 septiembre 2005

Author: lashes2ashes_lust2dust de United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

these short films are amazing seeing them at the Venice film festival with the directors was a once in a life time experience, the most hard hitting story i found was the end story directed by John Woo, named Song Song & Little Cat, it was an amazing story about 2 little girls coming from completely different backgrounds one filled with love the other not hatred, but sadness, the story was emotional and yet extremely happy. It is a tale of hope. the story unfolds when a girl throws her favourite doll out of the car window and a homeless man picks it up and takes it to his 'granddaughter' a young girl he found in the same place as the doll, her only dream in life to go to school, while out begging her 'grandfather' is killed, and a rose seller takes her in while out trying to sell her wares she see's the girl who threw away her doll and gives her a single rose, which in the end saves her from been killed by her mother when she try's to commit suicide. a fantastic film, within a collection of amazing films written by fantastic directors such as Spike Lee and Jordan and Ridley Scott. amazing film a must see.... i give it 11/10

---

18 out of 29 people found the following comment useful :-
all the invisible children, 22 septiembre 2006

Author: lizuha de Russian Federation

unforgettable!unbelievable! i've seen all the invisible children today at the movies,today was the premiere. i enjoyed a lot,and every part stuck in my mind,and i remember even the words that the actors have been saying. especially John Woo,Kusturica,Spike Lee, and Silva- oh gosh, don't have words to express .just feelings. the part by Kusturica-Blue Gypsy,is charming and very funny,and by john Woo-is amazingly seriously and with hope. By Spike Lee-touching and really impressive,and lifelike. thanks to all the directors who have made such a masterpiece. i will never forget this movie. hope soon we will see more movies like this one,because it touches on the problems of nowadays life,and its really gives you a chance to think!

---

7 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
multiple movies about an important subject; children, 27 julio 2007

Author: dutchfoxy de Netherlands

The World is not always a beautiful place. This movie, that exist of multiple small movies, shows a few of the world's problems... especially in relation to children.

Because the subject is important and the stories are realistic, there is already enough reason to watch it. Not every sub-movie is as strong as the other. But they all tell their own story and overall I liked it very much.

Also don't forget that some big names have been involved in creating this movie, to name some: Spike Lee, Ridley Scott and John Woo.

It has almost no action, certainly no exploding special effects. But it does have drama, laughter and shocking moments... go see it.

---

8 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Tell me a joke and if you don't know one, never mind, can't we just look at the sun?, 26 marzo 2006

Author: Nick-242

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was lucky enough to see the film yesterday and I have to say I loved it!!! Only two out of the seven short films were a bit on the bad side, but overall a very good film.

I'll try to keep my comments spoiler-free for those who haven't seen it, but there is one on the final comment (there's a note right before it).

TANZA This is the first short film presented and I have to say one of the weakest. I would have preferred to see the characters speaking in their native tongue and have subtitles there rather than hearing them attempt to speak English, it made the whole thing a bit unnatural, and the end result is not really satisfying in my opinion.

BLUE GYPSY This was one of my favorites. The lovely balance of humor and dramatic undertones eventually collide in an impressive and gripping result. Loved it!!!

Jesus CHILDREN OF America A great one as well! The little kid actress is wonderful and there is some pretty heavy stuff on this one. The ending scene was not very good though, but everything else in this short makes-up for this little "mistake".

JOAO AND BILU This was another one of my favorites. There's nothing too dramatic on this one but therein lies it's beauty, in it's simplicity.

CIRO Another great short. I loved the whole shadow play and in the end it really goes to the core of what being a child is.

JONATHAN This one was definitely the worst. Pretentious and completely uninteresting, it doesn't even come close to the quality of all the other ones.

SONG SONG AND LITTLE CAT (*contains SPOILERS*) This one was awesome and it could have been the best one of them all if John Woo hadn't exploded its resources. It starts off very well and it has many heart-wrenching moments but we really could have done without the explicit shot of the "grandfather" holding the old pencil, or any of the ending shots for that matter. I would have ended it on the girl looking at the kids in school, it would have been more powerful to end it like that rather than force it to be a happy ending, I mean come on! The grandpa saying "goodbye" through the window, we did not need that! Anyways, in spite of all that I really loved it. And OMG it ends and the BEAUTIFUL, Oscar-deserving song "Teach Me Again" by Elisa (featuring Tina Turner) comes up!!!!!! Can't think of a better way to end a movie :)

---

7 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Sunday movie, 18 octubre 2006

Author: catrinel gheorghiu de Romania

I have seen this movie at the Transilvania International Film Festival, in June 2006. It's such a lovely movie. it lifts up every soul. I think it's an excellent Sunday movie. it brings sunshine in your mind. it sends you to another levels of heart openings.

You cant say which of the 7 stories impresses you the most. It shows reality among us. Look on your right side, look on your left side, wherever you are. You'll see children everywhere.

I recommend you this movie. Just to make you smile and send you back to your childhood. All the directors were doing an excellent work. All stories, even if different, separated, get together at the end, in your mind.

---

8 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Intention, Reasonable Execution, 8 abril 2007

Author: Claudio Carvalho de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The project "All the Invisible Children" has the intention to disclose through seven short stories, the terrible situation, with the lost of innocence and lack of perspective of abused children in some countries in the Twentieth-First Century through the eyes of seven directors.

1) "Tanza": Mehdi Chafer shows a boy called Tanza in an undefined country in Africa fighting in a civil war with machine gun and explosives, and dreaming on having his home and going to school. This theme could be very powerful, since there are many civil wars in Africa and use of children as soldiers, but this short never works and is completely boring. My vote is three.

2) "Uros": Emir Kusturica shows a gypsy boy called Uros in his last day in a juvenile prison in Serbia-Montenegro without any other perspective but returning to the place. The black-humor never works and the story is pointless and pretentious. My vote is four.

3) "Jesus Children of America": Spike Lee shows a HIV positive girl called Blanca, daughter of junkies' parents with Aids and the cruelty of her schoolmates in school in the best episode of this film. My vote is nine.

4) "Bilu and João": Kátia Lund gives an optimistic approach of two homeless children that fight to survive working on the streets, collecting beer and soda tins and paper to sell in a junkyard, and transporting shops in street fairs. Kátia Lund lost the chance to disclose the terrible situation of street children in Brazil, and how our society is indifferent to such a social problem. My vote is five.

5) "Jonathan": Jordan and Ridley Scott show a photographer correspondent of war in pain for his past experiences. This tale is simply awful, empty and shows the absolutely alienated vision of the childhood problem of these directors, actually the worst story. My vote is two.

6) "Ciro": Stefano Veneruso shows a young boy in Naples that pickpockets to survive. This short is interesting and has a good conclusion. My vote is seven.

7) "Song Son and Little Cat": John Woo shows a beautiful, but shallow tale of fantasy, with a homeless orphan and a spoiled wealthy girl. The short is beautiful and probably the most elaborated one, but does not reach the objective of this collection of films. My vote is six.

Therefore, in spite of the good intention of the producers of "All the Invisible Children", the result is irregular, flawed and only reasonable. My (global) vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Crianças Invisíveis" ("Invisible Children")

---

---

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Ratings	External reviews
Plot keywords	Detalles principales	Your user comments
Your vote history