Adoption Movies Review

The Italian DVD by Sony Pictures Classic Older Teen/Adult Film

* Running Time: 99 Min.* Rated: PG13

Synopsis

For most Russian orphans, the chance to be adopted is a dream come true. But six-year-old Vanya has other hopes. After discovering his mother is still alive, the abandoned boy teaches himself to read so as to learn her address from his personal files. Before a wealthy Italian couple can claim him for their own, Vanya sets off on a perilous journey to find his only remaining family. Pursued by orphanage staff and the police, the determined runaway must now face the most difficult challenges of his young life in this incredible story inspired by true events.
Cast and Crew

* Stars: Yuri Itskov, Mariya Kuznetsova, Dariya Lesnikova
* Director: Andrei Kravchuk
* Producer: Andrei Zertsalov
* Genre: Drama
* Studio: Sony Classics
* Sub: English (US), French (Parisian), Spanish (Latin Am)
* Color/B&W: Color

Adoption Harmony Review:
Dreaming of being adopted is the norm for the Russian orphans in this movie, with one exception.  A young six year old boy has an Italian family interested in him when he finds out his birth mother is still alive.  Showing the living conditions and staff, as well as the children and their ploys to survive, the Italian will, as I've said before, force you to see where these adopted children are coming from.  The main character in The Italian, Vanya, struggles to search for his birth mother before the Italians can take him away from all he's ever known.   He will have to learn another language and is forced to speak to these strangers through an interpreter.  He has no idea why they would come all the way to Russia to adopt him and their motivations are not offered.  The vulnerability of Vanya and all the children in this co-ed orphanage are realistic.  The neglect and shame given to the orphans by the society only compounds their isolation.  This is all very realistically shown throughout the film.  Bring your Kleenex's!

If you have adopted a Russian boy, and so many of us have, then you may see a child in this film that looks like your son.  The main character so closely resembled my son that I did not keep a dry eye for most all of the movie.  The movie has English subtitles but is spoken in Russian.  I watched this one several times, and have on my keep-safe shelf.  It is another must-see and ought to be a prerequisite for pre-adopters because it shows what we all see when we go to the orphanages, which can be haunting.  In any case, it would be a prep for what is about to come and a plea for all the older kids that are never adopted.  Vanya will capture your heart and not let go.  This is a Mission Possible movie for sure! 

Order this DVD by going to www.sonypictures.com

Adopted & When Love is Not Enough DVD by Point Made Films
*Running Time: 80 minutes
*No Rating (preteen to Adult)
*Accompanied by Adopted-We Can Do Better
*Entire Series Time:  2 hours 12 minutes

Synopsis:

About Adopted

We’ve seen them in grocery stores, playgrounds and at our children’s schools– little Asian girls with their loving white parents. Of the 1.5 million adopted children in the United States, international adoptees are the fastest growing segment, of which most are Asian girls. While many of their stories are heartwarming and reflect our image of American compassion and generosity, the realities are much more complex. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, adoptees have significantly more behavioral problems than non-adopted children.
Adopted reveals the grit rather than the glamor of transracial adoption. First-time director Barb Lee goes deep into the intimate lives of two well-meaning families and shows us the subtle challenges they face. One family is just beginning the process of adopting a baby from China and is filled with hope and possibility. The other family’s adopted Korean daughter is now 32 years old. Prompted by her adoptive mother’s terminal illness, she tries to create the bond they never had. The results are riveting, unpredictable and telling. While the two families are at opposite ends of the journey, their stories converge to show us that love isn’t always enough.

My Review:
This film's theme in the largest segment is of an adoptive mother to an Korean young lady.  The story they portray is shocking.  The denial of the adoptive mother that the daughter, adopted in Korea as a baby, should have any curiosity about her Korean family of origin was pathetic.  But I've seen it in families right here in Austin.  The daughter practically begs her mother to open up and talk to her and validate her needs to search are unmistakable a must see.  The courage of this young lady is inspiring and sad.  It doesn't portray negativity of her childhood or her adoptive mom, the mother does that pretty well herself.  Watching the family dynamics of this rejection is the point of the film made by none other than, POINT MADE FILMS. The story of the second family starting a Chinese adoption is not much different than ones I've seen on U-Tube, although it is always entertaining to me to watch the actions and reactions during the process of adopting a child. Overall, this film needs to be in your library of must-haves.

Accompanying this video is the companion DVD We Can Do Better.  It is partly narrated with interviews of the Korean adoptee in Adopted and a navigation through the ways in which we, as adoptive parents, can communicate with our children about their families of origin.  Some of the segments are repetitive of the Adoption movie, but are isolated into specific areas of the international adoptee's needs to search for personal identity.  This accompanying DVD could be used for any type of adoption educational seminar and is, indeed, for that purpose.  High Five from Adoption Harmony on the making of this documentary in its entirety.

Order this film by going to PointMadeOnlineStore.com.