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Stolen Childhoods

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Stolen Childhoods (2005)

61%
50%
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61 %
Reviews Counted: 18 Fresh: 11  Rotten:7 Average Rating: 5.3/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 86 mins

Synopsis: All around the globe, the raw materials for modern consumer capitalism are being created by unseen workers with neither rights nor a voice. Director Len Morris and cinematographer Robin Romano traveled to eight countries over the course of seven years, collecting the tragic stories of... All around the globe, the raw materials for modern consumer capitalism are being created by unseen workers with neither rights nor a voice. Director Len Morris and cinematographer Robin Romano traveled to eight countries over the course of seven years, collecting the tragic stories of child laborers, as well as the heroic, inspiring tales of people who struggle to help them. From an Indonesian boy trapped on a dismal fishing platform, to the tiny hands working the rug looms of India, Pakistan, and Nepal, the stories of horror are driven home by the haunted eyes of children much too young for such suffering. The tragedy is tempered by those who offer solutions and are engaged in bringing them to fruition, such as India's Kailash Satyarthi. Satyarthi founded the Bal Ahsram rehabilitation center, which has rescued over 40,000 children and given them new hope for the future. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) also provides a discerning take on the situation, while Kenyan environmentalist and the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Wangari Maathai is a clear-eyed voice of international conscience. Narrated by Meryl Streep, the documentary uses its central topic to raise other issues of worldwide consequence, showing how child labor is related to problems with education, international debt, the African AIDS epidemic, and global capitalism. The children suffer from exposure to chemicals, physical strain, an improper nourishment, rest, and medical care. Ultimately, education is the best route to a solution, with multiple organizations attempting to pay school fees and otherwise get kids out of the fields and into the classroom. There remains much to be done, however, and in addressing this issue, these filmmakers have begun to show how audiences can have a part in ending the cycle of child labor. [More]

Genre: Education/General Interest

Director: Len Morris
Screenwriter: Georgia Morris
Producer: Len Morris, Barbara Broccoli
Composer: Miriam Cutler

Reviews

 
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02/09/06
Time Out
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08/16/07
Dave Calhoun
Time Out New York
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The result is an infomercial rather than a film.

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03/01/07
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International
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09/26/05
Onion AV Club
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Well meaning but less than riveting in its execution, this documentary is far better suited for public television exposure than theatrical release.

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07/05/05
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
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3/5

A gripping indictment of the effective enslavement of children all over the world.

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07/05/05
Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine
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2.5/4

Morris continually drives home the same point, about the inhumanity and cruelty of child labor. Needless to say, it gets redundant and starts feeling wearying and monotonous.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/01/05
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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2/4

A blunt but effective guilt trip..., more a political statement than a personal one.

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07/01/05
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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2.5/4

A dispiriting public service announcement.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/05
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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B

At times, Stolen feels more like a fundraising tool than a theatrical release, but it's still an effective call to action, emphasizing the need for social responsibility by consumers, lawmakers and corporations.

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06/03/05
E! Online
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...as utilitarian a piece of filmmaking as can be imagined

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06/03/05
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat
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3.5/5

Narrated by Meryl Streep, the film thoughtfully lays out the facts while highlighting various programs that aim to eliminate economic incentives to exploit children, and to return them to their families, enabling them to go to school.

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06/02/05
Kevin Crust
Los Angeles Times
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Stolen Childhoods is a serious work of analysis, rooting the resistance to reform in Third World government corruption and Western profiteering.

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06/02/05
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly
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In its reliance on emotionally loaded voiceover and its disconcertingly direct appeals for support, Len Morris' old-fashioned docu seems more designed for fund-raising pitches than theatrical release.

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05/24/05
Ronnie Scheib
Variety
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2.5/4

Meryl Streep narrates this global update on child-labor abuses with all the enthusiasm and alarm of someone reading 'The Pet Goat' to a classroom of second-graders.

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05/20/05
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
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2.5/4

It remains for a tougher documentary to more forcefully trace exactly who benefits from this shameful practice -- multinational corporations and consumers who don't ask enough questions.

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05/20/05
Lou Lumenick
New York Post
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3/5

This earnest, unsentimental documentary describes the lot of the 246 million children for whom, as the narrator Meryl Streep says in the prologue, 'life is nothing but work.'

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05/19/05
Dana Stevens
New York Times
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3/4

Makes the point that we are all one family and the degradation and slavery of one child working in horrible conditions diminishes us all.

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05/19/05
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
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2.5/4

When a movie like Stolen Childhoods feels it has to almost beat you senseless by proclaiming 'Children are our future' or similar platitudes, you wonder how and why such shouting became necessary.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/19/05
Gene Seymour
Newsday
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2.5/4

More of an educational lecture than a documentary film.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/18/05
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
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Related Forums

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STOLEN CHILDHOODS opens in NYC on May 20, 2005 @ the Quad/Expands to LA June 3, 2005!
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STOLEN CHILDHOODS opens in NYC on May 20, 2005 @ the Quad/Expands to LA June 3, 2005!
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REEL_REVIEWER
STOLEN CHILDHOODS opens in NYC on May 20, 2005 @ the Quad/Expands to LA June 3, 2005!
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REEL_REVIEWER
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all

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