Der Verdingbub

Not an easy watch. Great execution. Didn't quite understand why the main character did not just leave earlier.

I know a bit of German but at one point I was wondering what language it was until I discovered it was Swiss German that is a little bit different. Probably the first movie I saw in this language and it's certainly not a bad one. It's a drama, not my favorite genre, but a interesting to watch drama, with good actors and a good, sometimes hard to watch story. Hard to watch, not as in bloody, but as in mental abuse and corporal punishment towards kids. Seeing those scenes make you realize kids from now are just so spoiled compared to certain kids in that time. Because even if it is a movie, life was that hard in most of the families in that time. The acting is excellent, with actors I never heared of. The filming and the story were much better than I expected it to be. A good drama in a foreign language.

There is no doubt that the story of a foster boy with no rights of his own could have been turned into a heart wrenching drama. However, despite the gravity of the subject manner, director Markus Imboden successfully infused some elements of entertainment which help viewers deal with the helpless situation of Max.

Many potentially controversial subjects were touched only at the surface, such as the role of the church or the involvement of the Swiss government in the foster system.

Thanks to the beautiful tunes of the accordion, a sort of acoustic happy end was made possible.

Being a foster kid myself in the 90's I connected very much with this movie.

Max Hubacher does a really good impression of The Foster Boy, and it brought back very hard feelings for. The guilt of seeing your fostersiblings being treated bad. The grown up world not having a care in the world for you, being forced to beg for forgiveness when you tell the authorities you are being treated badly.

Merely continue existing by still having hopes and dreams, even when they are destroyed time and time again. Being promised to be looked after but in reality you find that you lack worth and is nothing more than something that can be used in diffrent ways. And having your schooling destroyed for no reason other than to please the fosterparents. Finally leaving and bringing all the guilt with you.

I won't say that I've spoiled anything. This is a hard film to watch for me and I cried quite a few times, because it really captures all the small details the I don't think people whose never been "cared for" by the system will notice but I notice them.

My final words are that it may be that it depicts the ca 1950s Switzerland, but it wasn't better in the 1990s Sweden and still is not in most countries. Kids are taken and treated badly.

You should watch this movie.