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It's hard to tell exactly how to approach this documentary. Even at face value it is hard to judge how honest this portrayal is and, particularly, how this small group of delinquents fits into a bigger picture. Even the most minimalist narrative could has solved this later problem, but all we are given are connivingly edited snippets of interviews with the children depicted. I would honestly be surprised if you could not find a similar sample of abused white trash street kids with similar lives in many western cities. I don't doubt that the problem is more prevalent in many of the economically collapsed Eastern European nations, but The Children of Leningradsky totally failed to illustrate this.I find it very hard to see this documentary as anything but exploitative. The tragic events the documentary follows are depicted in a very one-sided manner and are edited in a way that seems purely designed to shock the middle class and further the careers of the film makers. I was more horrified that the filmmakers had the audacity to cash in on these kids than I was by the events themselves. Schlock documentary making at its worst.All the marks I can give this are purely because I believe the schlock angle may scare some of the mediocre set to act on child poverty.
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