Twentieth Century Child

The idea of preconceived notions is forcefully driven home in the opening minutes of this unusual program. Set to a quirky, yet catchy, soundtrack, the camera close-up shows us the face and shoulders of a beautiful young girl. As she bounces in slow motion, her long golden locks whip playfully across her face, alternately hiding and revealing a smile that is as wide as the day is long. In the next shot, filmed in regular speed, we see a physically deformed child bouncing on a mini-trampoline. Our first reaction is sadness--this child is aping the motions of that first beautiful little girl...and then we realize that this is the same girl. Such is the power of stereotypes. The girl is seven-year-old Anne Koller, whose birth defects, which resulted in her body's having a trunk with only the vestige of limbs, were caused by routine pharmaceuticals proscribed during her mother's pregnancy. Diagnosed with scoliosis in March of 1981, Anne has had to make tremendous adjustments in order to perform the daily tasks that we take for granted. It is surely the wonder and sheer optimism of children that allows Anne to unconsciously use her prosthetic arm, hold a pen in her mouth and enthusiastically type, and delight in the simple joys of rolling over and over across a carpet. This non-narrative portrait, which includes footage of Anne from her early years to the present, is occasionally broken up by title cards, which sometimes deliver information pertinent to Anne's history, and other times offer statistics about drug-related birth defects or Jungian psychology quotes. The psych quotes and stats ultimately detract from what is otherwise an engaging and fascinating visual ode to the resilience of children in general, and specifically of young Anne Koller. Recommended, with the above reservations. (See KID BITS for availability.)