September 17, 2009: The Unloved
British access and two-time Oscar-nominee Samantha Morton hides suffering beneath the surface. As a child, she spent several years in foster homes and group homes for children, and perhaps that informs some of the intensity she brings to her roles. Now she’s using her clout as a celebrity to bring attention to the often sad lives lived by these anchorless children. The Unloved is a film created for television broadcast in the UK, which I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival. Television broadcast rather than theatrical distribution is a deliberate choice in order to bring the film closer to the children in foster care, so that they may get an opportunity to see their story portrayed without needing to get out to the cinema.
The story centres around Lucy, an 11-year-old girl who lives with her father. She is sent to a group home after being beaten by her father. Her mother left them years ago, evidently unable to deal with the burden of parenthood. Lucy is lonely and wants her parents, even though a brief visit with her father is inevitably clouded by the memory of the recent violence. At the group home, there is loud and boisterous action all the time, and eventually the bad influences rub off on Lucy as the 16-year-old Lauren, with whom she shares a room, teaches her how to shoplift.
Molly Windsor, as Lucy, turns in a tremendous performance, emotionless much of the time as you might expect from a quiet child forced into this madhouse of type-A troublemakers. We see how thankless the job is for counselors as well as staff members at the house, tied up in red tape and without any real guidance or long-term stake in what happens. In a scene in which Lucy’s case is reviewed, the adults talk about what is to be done with her, as if she’s not sitting right there in the room next to them, and nobody is willing to provide an answer to her one simple question – why can’t she live with her Mom?
Lucy eventually takes matters into her own hands, and goes to see her mother. An awkward visit makes it clear that her mother loves her and doesn’t want to push her away, but also plainly indicates that her mother can’t deal with her. The unresolved ending, with Lucy on the bus leaving her mother’s house, is appropriate to the uncertain life paths of these poor children.
What Samantha Morton has done here is admirable, and clearly a work of passion. I hope that it finds its intended audience, and Morton’s inspirational story helps some of the disadvantaged children of the world to realize that they can rise above their unfair situations.
Gritty and touching public service announcement.
Post a Comment