First Steps

With World War II over, there was going to be a lot of need for care-taking. Leo Seltzer's Oscar-winning "First Steps" looks at a special type of care-taking that was going to be important in the post-war years. The focus is an occupational therapy camp for children with disabilities. These tykes were cast out of society, seen as freaks, and so the specialists help them learn how to function normally. The material is a little dated, but it's still an important look at those who provide some of the most crucial help. If it got made nowadays, it would have to incorporate a focus on non-physical disabilities like autism. But anyway, this is nevertheless a documentary that everyone should see.

"The first goal of therapy is self-help"! Hmmm, well perhaps that gives us an indication as to just how this UN documentary has been constructed. Accompanied by one of these orchestral scores that you're never quite sure if it's playing at the correct speed, we are shown some frankly quite terrific images of young folks with varying degree of disability who are enthusiastically determined to thrive. Passive exercise, physiotherapy, teamwork and play are all used by trained professionals and with only a very limited focus on the embryonic science of prosthetics, this is all very much an human process. Some of the language might come across as a little uncharitable, the terminology a bit brutal by 2024 standards and the children are all referred to as "he" - even when it's abundantly clear they are not a boy! That said, though, it's hard not to see and admire the inspirational motivation that underpins this ten minutes of hope and will-power amongst these children.