Los niños perdidos

I loved how in this doco, a lot of issue were addressed from the accident to the ongoing problems in Colombia. The fact the the indigenous people and the Colombian army were working together was amazing. I'm so so happy the forth children are alive and together. I only hope the best of best for them. My heart roots for them. And thank you so much for everyone that was part of this amazing operation hope. I wish all the was issue of my country will one day cease. I hope for the vulnerable communities, to be safe, to be protected and helped in every way possible. As someone mentioned in the doco, we all have indigenous blood in our body. We need to care and helps each other.

True account of four children surviving a plane crash that killed all the adults including their mother. The crash happen in the Amazon jungle and I can't imagine a worse place except maybe high up on a snowy mountain. The children leave the wreck and start walking. The Colombian government sends huge helicopters full of soldiers to try and find the children. The indigenous people send another group of volunteers. Meanwhile there are rebels inhabiting the jungle and the other two groups needed to stay away from them. We see mostly the two groups search under horrible conditions. Most of it is actual footage from the search and actual searchers telling their own accounts with some re-enactments. The sheer will it took to spend 40 days under these conditions, speaks to the resilience of the both the searchers and even more amazingly, the children. Well made documentary.

This movie was more interesting than I expected mainly because of its slick production and storytelling. The cinematography was superb, especially the jungle close ups and the beautifully lit interiors of the indigenous homes.

The story of the rescue was interesting in itself but was made more so by the slow revelation of earlier troubles in the family and the inclusion of a subplot about the tensions amongst the rescuers. The latter explored the interesting history of the troubled relationship between the indigenous population and the military. The filmmakers cleverly wove these different elements together in a way that kept me interested throughout.

I particularly liked the sequence towards the end where the eldest child recounts her experience of being lost in the jungle through a voice over and her delightful drawings. I found that quite moving.

Even if the story itself doesn't hold a lot of interest to you, the production and story-telling might. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wow, I am shocked and stunned by the resilience of Lesley!

It shows how important it is to pass down ancestral knowledge at the young age. The girl, herself badly hurt, knew which fruits were edible, had to kill dangerous animals with the stick, and even managed to catch fish with an improvised rod. All while keeping alive 3 other kids including the baby, for 40 days, lost in a jungle. Her feat was simply incredible even by indigenous standards.

The end result is that they got justice by being protected from the family abuser! I hope they thrive in their life going forwards, they've been through so much and deserve all the love in the world.

I am so happy that the searchers did not give up! Their bravery, resilience and toughness were astounding. I am glad that we got to hear some of their life stories as well. They were real and tough, and not like typical documentaries where you would hear same old background stories of american cops with white privileged lives. Their stories are on another level, and I am happy that those brave men were given a platform to tell them. And not just given, they've earned that platform with their incredible feat.

Great documentary, with unexpected layers, twists and turns. The scenery is breathtaking! Highly recommended. I've cried and held my breath throughout. Nice job, Netflix! Please give us more stories like this, jungle rescues, with presenting lives of indigenous people.

I rated it a 10.

My husband said, "it was ok", but I thought it had several outstanding factors:

1). It was a TRUE story. I get so frustrated with "based on a true story" because you actually don't know what was actually true or not. This was downright true.

2) it actually had the REAL people, giving real commentary.

3) it used real footage

4). The jungle looked absolutely amazing (though a few too many spider/ant shots. Puts me right off.)

5) a bit of a glimpse into indigenous culture, which has always fascinated me

6) it's a wonderful story about very different people being brought together for a reason of good, working together, and learning to respect and appreciate each other.

7). It had a happy ending.

The biggest reason for the 10, though, is that it was REAL.

There isn't much of that in today's world.

You might say, "well ENTERTAIMENT" isn't supposed to BE real. It's supposed to provide an ESCAPE from reality."

But, actually, sometimes it's quite nice to know that REALITY is sometimes wonderful enough that one doesn't NEED to escape from it.

If you know what I mean. :-)