The Angulo family live in an apartment on Manhattans Lower East Side and their 'hippy' father decided early on that he wanted ten children all inspired by the teachings of Krishna and he would have them all with his wife. He also decided that he did not want them to be sullied by the nasty outside World with its drugs and bad people. So he kept them locked up for years.
This documentary tells their story. It uses original footage and also tapes from the families past to show how their life developed and existed in this microcosm of a society.
The boys and daughter were allowed to watch movies and so developed their ideas of the outside world through the medium of film. They loved films so much that they re-enacted their favourites. This includes 'Reservoir Dogs'' and 'Batman'. They even make all the props out of household materials.
Now this is fascinating in terms of the story itself and in many respects is a documentary for people who don't normally watch documentaries as it is very accessible and the subject matter is not too depressing – quite the opposite in fact.
There are some painful scenes but these are all of the emotional kind and are all to be expected. There are also a lot of unanswered questions and issues that are glossed over or ignored and that is where this film falls down. We don't get to really hear the father's story or have it explained where they get their income from – seven kids and two adults and no one working? There are more too but I don't wish to do a plot reveal. This is one that is being widely touted so there is clearly merit here and well worth a watch but you may feel that you wanted to know more of the back story as I did.
This documentary tells their story. It uses original footage and also tapes from the families past to show how their life developed and existed in this microcosm of a society.
The boys and daughter were allowed to watch movies and so developed their ideas of the outside world through the medium of film. They loved films so much that they re-enacted their favourites. This includes 'Reservoir Dogs'' and 'Batman'. They even make all the props out of household materials.
Now this is fascinating in terms of the story itself and in many respects is a documentary for people who don't normally watch documentaries as it is very accessible and the subject matter is not too depressing – quite the opposite in fact.
There are some painful scenes but these are all of the emotional kind and are all to be expected. There are also a lot of unanswered questions and issues that are glossed over or ignored and that is where this film falls down. We don't get to really hear the father's story or have it explained where they get their income from – seven kids and two adults and no one working? There are more too but I don't wish to do a plot reveal. This is one that is being widely touted so there is clearly merit here and well worth a watch but you may feel that you wanted to know more of the back story as I did.