Manhole Children

Sort of a 7 Up for Mongolia, Manhole Children follows three people over 15 or so years, from living in sewer pipes, to a kind of uneasy above-ground life, and sadly back to the sewers.

The film makes a point to connect the conditions that led the children to start their lives this way to the arrival of Capitalism, but the point is never supported. They remain relatively objective otherwise, but by the end it's hard to feel a lot of pity for anyone involved -- all the subjects are as manipulative and aimless as you'd expect from growing up in those conditions, but as adults the behaviour just seems mean, and watching it get passed on to their children is terrifying.

The film opened with many more children, at least some of whom they imply managed to get out and stay out of that situation. I really wish they'd included at least one of the success stories as well, because the choice to focus only on those who keep failing to make something better leaves the whole thing as a pretty depressing exercise that you'd think could be recreated in almost any country.

Still, seeing these conditions up close is interesting, and there are secondary characters who aren't completely confused. Worth seeing.