Kids (2011)

In Bettina Büttners exquisitely lucid documentary Kinder Kids childhood dysfunction loneliness and pentup emotion run wild at an allboys group home in southern Germany The children interned here include tenyearolds Marvin and Tommy Marvin fiddling with a mini plastic Lego sword explains matteroffactly to the camera This is a knife You use it to cut stomachs open Dennis who is even younger is seen in a hysteric fit mimicking some pornographic scene Boys will be boys but innocence is disproportionately spare here Choosing not to dwell on the harsh specifics Büttner reveals the disconcerting manner in which traumatic episodes can manifest themselves in the mundane a game of Lego Hide and Seek or Truth or Dare Filmed in lapidary blackandwhite Büttners fascinating film sheds light on childhood from the boys characteristically disadvantaged perspective one not yet fully cognizant leaving much ethically to ponder over