Éclats d'enfance

Road to the Oscars 2023. This documentary is nominated for 1 award and it´s best documentary. This doc floored me. I sat with me heart in my stomach the entire time and it might be one of the toughest watches I´ve done in a while. I think this is a really strong "fly on the wall" doc. Simon Lereng Wilmont really blends into the background and just let things happened no matter what they might be. He captures some really strong moments where you as the viewer can interpret them as you see fit. This is a tough watch as a fair warning, it had me constantly on the brink of tears and the subject matter of abused and forgotten kids is a heavy one.

In an institute in Ukraine for kids whose parents can´t take care of them. We follow the every day of the staff and kids. Listening to their stories and see their outcome after the 9 months they can stay whereafter they either has to go to an orphanage or a new family.

First, a few things I Didn't like about the doc. I really don´t like the current war is mentioned in promotional material and descriptions. This doc mentions the war once and what it does to the home and that´s it. This is a doc about the kids and their situations and nothing else. It feels like a cheap way to create interest and sets bad expectations for the doc in my opinion.

I didn't like some of the more artistic shots in this doc either. Not the senary shots but things like "this kid is gone; someone erases him from a board". It seems a bit too pretentious and artistic for a doc so intimated and grounded in real people. I know it looks great when you capture shots like that and I would totally do it too, but you remind the viewer that someone filmed and edited this, and it can break the immersion to me. This doc is so good at being anonyms, keep that up so we forget someone is holding a camera.

I really must applaud Wilmont here. He is such a patient and incredible documentarist here and clearly took his time with the kids and their situations. There are a few noticeable cuts but overall, it seems like Wilmont just filmed, stayed, and waited. This captures some real emotions from these kids and the patience it must have taken him to just stay on someone, so they'll forget his filming is incredible.

This is a devastating documentary to me. To see these kids, their situations and feelings really floored me and I cried and had my heart in my stomach the entire runtime. To realize these kids will probably grow up with the same issues as their parents as the doc also mentions is devastating and the feelings the kids show are haunting to me, even when they are happy. There are so many things they say they shouldn't, they use a lot of adult words, they are mad, sad, and happy but in some really tragic ways. The way they play and talk to each other is full of violence, abuse that probably sound like their parents and one kid takes care of his siblings at the home, while also smoking, making tattoos and cutting. These kids are shown with their real emotions and even though they might play it up for the camera now and again, it seems like Wilmont captured them in a way that is so authentic and devastating.

The doc has a really nice flow to it. It starts out showing some good stuff and then gut punches you with the reality of the kids lives and situations. The phone conversations with their parents, them saying goodbye, them being overjoyed when good things happen, the aftermaths of conversations where they just sit in silence and sadness. The doc really pulls you into their lives and your immediately pulled into their narrative and want them to succeed.

I´ve praised the docs intimate nature and it´s all up to the incredible patience and camerawork. Wilmont is just an observer here. He doesn't want to intrude or say anything even when he probably wanted to stop the kids or ask them something. He just films and let things happen. This creates this closed off intimate feeling where the documentarist disappears and let´s the subject and objects speak for themselves.

This is a reality check doc. It shows a terrible cycle of substance abuse and violence in the worst way possible. Even thought they want you to feel there is hope and a happy ending I just don´t really believe it. The doc shows a part of reality that is hard to swallow and digest, and when you see the state of these kids, it´s hard to believe there is a happy ending, but who knows.

A house made of splinters is a devastating and strong doc. It shows so many powerful emotions from kids that don't need to feel them. It´s a sad watch that will leave you floored, and it has no Mersey. It´s also extremely well filmed and the approach to this doc is perfect for what it wanted to show.

Oscar predictions: There are some really strong contenders this year for best documentary. I personally liked this more than Fire of Love but I would no be mad if any of them won. I haven't seen the rest yet, but as far as I can understand Navalny is also a strong contender. I want this to win so far from what I've seen and hey, it´s directed by a Dane, it´s nice t have some representation from my country at the Oscars.

Your parents prefer the bottle over you, like to drink themselves to death while they eschew, as you're a child you are then taken, left feeling totally forsaken, at a loss to know, what you are meant to do. At least the people at the house really do care, and all the other kids with which you have to share, but if those parents don't recover, no one comes along to foster, the orphanage, is where you'll find despair.

It's a heart-breaking film that shows us the journey of several children whose parents addiction has landed their offspring in a world they never would have expected, although far preferable to what must have been hell on earth before. Located in eastern Ukraine, the story is one that can be told the world over, sadly.

I appreciate documentaries as these ,sometimes feel it's all sad music and encroach emotions but..situations such as these happen all over the world,not just Ukraine.

While heartbreaking,I felt after watching it,these poor kids will be lost in some system,probably forever. They seem as if they don't have a chance. Parents who don't care and children who are too young to understand that they could be forgotten and want to come across as tough,hard lined and would,hopefully,survive life.

The staff are beautiful as they don't give up and genuinely care for these kids unconditionally,but know it's to no avail.

Kids that age don't really know what's going on. In a house with others that are hardened to the reality that they won't leave,or simply return,they mould the younger to emulate them...some kind of legacy for them.

For what is going on in Eastern Europe at the moment,it's a heartbreaking reminder of the lost,abandoned children of a war they will never understand and any war doesn't really solve anything ,conflict just holds a grudge against it's "enemy" ,only to to show its ugly head again years later and more innocents suffer.

Beautiful but heartbreaking and I wish the women who run the establishment thanks for genuinely caring for these lost souls.

I had to push myself to keep watching A House Made of Splinters, not because it was bad - it wasn't. It was because it was so heart breaking. Regardless of this being set in a Ukraine children's home, I think this documentary is universal as there are children going through this all over the world. Drug addict, alcoholic and abusive parents who don't give a damn about their children is something that is unfortunately wide spread across the world, it happens even in your own suburb probably.

It was hard to watch these beautiful children going through such sadness. I would hate to know what they are thinking in their delicate minds, how unloved they were feeling, how abandoned they were.

The staff of the home appear to do their best for them, but their hands are tied. They can't control useless parents.

I think this documentary is a must watch for any parent.

I hope that all these children featured are safe and having better lives.

Originally premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Documentary Competition Selection.

"A House Made of Splinters" examines the children and staff in a special kind of home: an institution for children who have been removed from their homes while awaiting court custody decisions. This documentary is pretty brutal and touching. The exploitation of children in the institution was well presented as the documentary focuses on how the children are being effected and their life isn't easy.

The camerawork and presentation is very well done and the soundtrack fits properly to the film's tone. Each children that is explored give interesting discussions about themselves, their families and sometimes horrifying confessions of what their parents are like and what they had seen through their eyes. The documentary isn't entirely depressing with some nice wholesome moments where we witness the children experience happiness, but the overall lore is pretty depressing. There are some pacing issues halfway in the film and some of the music is a bit cheesy but for the most part, it was effective.

For someone who has young relatives, this documentary was pretty tough to watch sometimes. But it's very important to be seen. I'd recommend it.

Rating: B+