Kids(2019)
Marie, Arthur, Emine, and Christian are ten years old. They live in Berlin. Strolling through the city with them, we experience their freedom as well as first notions of opposition.
Russia. Our, days, general lawlessness, corruption and inaction of the authorities. But suddenly, in a small town start getting killed. The victims - drug traffickers, corrupt officials bribed the judge ... Someone has clearly decided to purge the city from evil. Who are these people's avengers?
In Bettina Büttner’s exquisitely lucid documentary Kinder (Kids), childhood dysfunction, loneliness, and pent-up emotion run wild at an all-boys group home in southern Germany. The children interned here include ten-year-olds Marvin and Tommy. Marvin, fiddling with a mini plastic Lego sword, explains matter-of-factly to the camera, “This is a knife. You use it to cut stomachs open.” Dennis, who is even younger, is seen in a hysteric fit, mimicking some pornographic scene. Boys will be boys, but innocence is disproportionately spare here. Choosing not to dwell on the harsh specifics, Büttner reveals the disconcerting manner in which traumatic episodes can manifest themselves in the mundane — a game of Lego, Hide and Seek, or Truth or Dare. Filmed in lapidary black-and-white, Büttner’s fascinating film sheds light on childhood from the boys’ characteristically disadvantaged perspective — one not yet fully cognizant — leaving much ethically to ponder over.
Asato is a young man who returns to a slummy neighbourhood (referred to as 'The Street') to be near his Mum who is in prison. He is able to transfer other people's injuries and is unable to walk past a child with a grazed knee or broken arm without helping them. Asato is protected from street thugs by Takeo, another troubled young man who has issues involving his father who is lying in a coma in hospital. The third member of their group is a young waitress, Shiho, who has her own secret.