A Mother's Journey

The "Journey" in the title refers to the long and often harrowing trip of Susan, a single American adoptive mother, to Wuhan, China, to receive her second Chinese child. More broadly, the title refers to the journey of single parenthood itself. Both Susan's first and second adopted children were baby girls--casualties of China's singularly disastrous population control policy and its treatment of female infants as cultural anathema. Both children had spent the first months of their lives warehoused in grim orphanages, their fates uncertain. While Susan's first experience with adoption in China had gone relatively smoothly, the second trip proved to be considerably less easy going: promised a well-nurtured and healthy child, she soon discovers that her newest daughter has a number of serious health problems. Happily, with love and time, Claire regains her health. This is emotionally affecting stuff, and the subject matter carries the video (along with Susan's strong and winningly warm personality). The filmmaking technique on the other hand...we've got faltering focus, an acoustic muddle for sound, and editing which is variously ham-fisted and overindulgent. A real home movie, which obviously reflects the love and respect of the filmmaker for the subject (he's a close friend of Susan and her family), but very little technical acumen. Sometimes the loose video verite style works at establishing an immediacy and an intimacy with the subject; frequently, however, it's simply annoying. Despite these considerable flaws, this would be a useful addition to general collections or programs particularly focused on adoption and parenting. Aud: H, C, P. (G. Handman)