I haven't seen this in years but it has stayed with me as a realistic study of individuals' attempts to survive and help each other in a social climate of poverty and desperation.
It struck me as one of the few films to clearly display the types of stresses that affect even the most well-meaning of us ... no real heroes here, no real villains, just real people.
A must-see for anyone working in the public systems (social workers, medical workers, teachers, etc.) as well as the rest of us watching the daily news and wondering why things turn out the way they so often do.
If you're looking for a fairy tale story, skip this one. It's real life ... which is why it's still valid after all these years.
