HANDICAPPED FUTURE is another moving documentary focusing on the plight of the disabled in West Germany, made by auteur Werner Herzog. It's not as in depth as his film that dealt with the deafblind, the feature length LAND OF SILENCE AND DARKNESS, but it's nonetheless a story that packs a punch as the director explores the way that disabled children struggle to integrate into a modern society.
Most of the kids are Thalidomide victims and it's certainly distressing viewing watching their natural good-natured spirits combine with their overwhelming disability. Some scenes, like where a child draws tears on her self-portrait, are quietly distressing, and yet as always Herzog lets the subject matter tell the story, always refusing to condemn or preach. The latter stages of the documentary move to America, showing in contrast the life of a disabled man who's able to live a relatively normal life thanks to that country's support system. Food for thought for sure.
