I gave this movie a 5, only because it shows, however limited, the plight of millions of children all over the world. It was irritating to me, that we would see or hear about events going on in these children's lives, but were never really followed up on. -Why is this red-light district allowed to exist?- -What are the laws regarding the prostitutes, pimps, & thieves in Calcutta?- We are shown the lives of 8 or 9 kids who are 10 to 12 years old, who are children of prostitutes in a chaste system that we in the USA and Europe would never allow to exist in open society. There are underground societies like these that exist in the first world, but they are hidden from most people. What I find good about the movie is that it shows a problem that millions of people suffer from that should be addressed by people in positions of power. The failure of this movie is that it shows almost nobody from India who seems to give a sh** about these children. This movie makes it look like the only ones who do care are the western first world movie makers. We don't learn anything about the social programs for Calcutta, the overpopulation, where these people get what they need to live, if there are any police that are actually in this poor area. That list could go on forever. A few cute, moving pictures of the conditions of life in this part of the world are not addressing the problem. I didn't want to say anything negative about the makers of this movie, but I'm tempted to agree with some critics who have blasted the movie as pure self-promotion for the Photographer who directed it. If any other directors in the first world want to cover the horrid issues that effect the poor people in the third (and the first) world, I pray you'll not be so egotistical that you'll show these societal problems 'from your point of view' and leave it so vague that it tells the world very little beyond the fact that some people suffer. It was a movie from the director's and editor's point of view.
