Cinema Crazed

2008

Rated: Unrated

Genre: Documentary

Directed By: Louise Hogarth

Running Time: 1:45

Review by: William Garcia

Review Date: 7/16/08

Special Features:
- Deleted/Extended Scenes
- Director's Commentary
- Public Service Announcements

ANGELS IN THE DUST

ANGELS IN THE DUST, a documentary by Louise Hogarth, brings us the story of activist Marion Cloete and her family who have abandoned everything in their lives to help and care for the 550 children in the South African Boikarabelo orphanage that have either lost family due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic or are infected themselves. The film goes in depth concerning Cloete’s devotion and brings us inside the orphanage to see the daily struggles of the children
within.

The film piles on the emotion and heartache almost immediately and the plight of these children is tragic and very heartbreaking. We see Cloete and her family interacting and living with the children, as well the world outside the orphanage, which is presented as a bleak wasteland. Specific attention is paid to the many child graves and the suffering they have endured. This is not a feel good or uplifting film by any means.

The film also aims to educate the viewer, presenting many valid arguments on how poverty and lack of a stable government has contributed to the virtual explosion in South Africa. A reliance of fear and superstition as well as other more archaic cultural factors has brought the disease to epidemic proportions and, as always, the children are the ones who suffer the most.

I dare anyone to sit through ANGELS IN THE DUST and not be moved emotionally as well as angered by what you see onscreen. The children are brave, coping with a devastating illness and a disgusting environment to grow up in. Cloete has done amazing things caring for these children, putting their needs first instead of her own, and should be commended for her efforts. The stories of the children and their struggles are distressing, but their optimism and desire to live their lives and just be average kids brings a bittersweet smile to the face.

The documentary starts to lose focus later in the runtime and is repetitive at times. It’s almost as if you become numb with a sort of shock to the hardships told over and over. You can only hear or see so many similar tales of woe before it becomes absurd in its abject horror. But on the flip side, there is an odd sense of optimism as if it will all just work itself out and everything will get better. Cloete and company are fighting a battle of insurmountable odds, but
they have an unrealistic outlook that if they hang in there and get more people to care or invest hard currency in their cause that all will be well. It is a question as to whether this is a real outlook shared by Cloete and her fellow activists or one just tacked on to the film to present Cloete’s struggles as something with a tangible resolution.

ANGELS IN THE DUST also feels like an unmitigated plea for donations, like a feature length telethon. The ultimate goals, while never in question, are slightly skewed when it appears that noble intentions are fueled by a quest for cash.

Ultimately a film that will tear at your emotions, ANGELS IN THE DUST is a strong film that relies on sympathy to drive its point home. Cloete is someone who should be commended for her worldly sacrifices in her quest to help afflicted children, but the film itself sometimes comes across as a very heavy handed plea for donations fueled by guilt. A flawed film, even if its intentions are ultimately in the right place, there is no denying ANGELS IN THE DUST’s
powerful emotional impact.

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