Brilliantly uncomfortable.
An unwanted baby that is disposed of by placing it in a dumpster is a superb metaphor for the kind of world most kids are born into these days. As we follow the baby through various circumstances as it goes from hand to hand, we see more and more of this dumpster of a world we live in. This film is dark, depressing and uses a palette that beautifully illustrates it's story and message. It is made on a low budget, but Dumpster Baby is one of those movies that show that not only no unlimited amount of money is needed to make a great film, but that the lack of it actually adds to the gritty atmosphere it wants to capture (a message maestro Mario Bava already understood perfectly, often handing films in under budget, because not all of the cash was needed to make a fine product). No CGI-effects could ever recreate this kind of realism. I have read about the bad sound the film is supposed to have. OK, admitted, it is not quite 5-channel ultra-Dolby mix that we get here, but as with the murky atmosphere that the cameras captured so magnificently, the sometimes hard to follow mumblings the people speak to each other add a fitting non-communicational loneliness to the lives of those we follow. Highly original, extremely hard-hitting and rather uncomfortable. In other words: a poetic masterpiece, a must-see and a must-have.
An unwanted baby that is disposed of by placing it in a dumpster is a superb metaphor for the kind of world most kids are born into these days. As we follow the baby through various circumstances as it goes from hand to hand, we see more and more of this dumpster of a world we live in. This film is dark, depressing and uses a palette that beautifully illustrates it's story and message. It is made on a low budget, but Dumpster Baby is one of those movies that show that not only no unlimited amount of money is needed to make a great film, but that the lack of it actually adds to the gritty atmosphere it wants to capture (a message maestro Mario Bava already understood perfectly, often handing films in under budget, because not all of the cash was needed to make a fine product). No CGI-effects could ever recreate this kind of realism. I have read about the bad sound the film is supposed to have. OK, admitted, it is not quite 5-channel ultra-Dolby mix that we get here, but as with the murky atmosphere that the cameras captured so magnificently, the sometimes hard to follow mumblings the people speak to each other add a fitting non-communicational loneliness to the lives of those we follow. Highly original, extremely hard-hitting and rather uncomfortable. In other words: a poetic masterpiece, a must-see and a must-have.