The
Drop Box (2014/Virgil Films DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: A Documentary: B-
On
a cold winter's night, a pastor wakes to find an abandoned baby on
his church steps and takes him in. Since then he has built a 'Drop
Box' for the unwanted, discarded, disabled and forgotten children of
South Korea. It is his crusade that no child should be forgotten,
even if their parents gave them up, he won't, which we learn about in
Brian Ivie's fine new documentary The Drop Box (2014).
How
many newborns end up dead in a year? Because of their conditions,
poverty, society, many babies are left to die alone in the streets
every day. If the child is born malformed, or the parents can't
afford them, or the child is born out of wedlock, or if a girl was
raped... Young mother's are forced to abandon their babies out of
fear, fear of being outcast and rejected by their family, friends and
even the government. No child chooses to be born, but South Korean
pastor Lee Jong-rak tries and brings hope to those without hope.
It
is a sad thing to see, babies thrown out like trash... While small,
most abandoned babies has no choice in the matter. The parents can't
help themselves much less support a child, the government doesn't
acknowledge children who are 'bastards', out of wedlock or disabled
as equals. There are many sad stories to why a parent would abandon
their child, but what is crueler is how society lacks the will accept
these babies much less help. While small and few, their are people
who strive to try and change this.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
sound are rough, but that is to be expected under the circumstances.
Extras include Music Performance by Steven Curtis Chapman, panel
discussion, and Drop Box Featurette.
-
Ricky Chiang
