BRUCE LEE AND THE OUTLAW *

I am sure there is a fine line between observation and exploitation and I'm not sure Joost Vandebrug hasn't crossed it in this documentary about Romanian street kids and of one in particular, Nicu, and his relationship with 'Bruce Lee', the so-called king of the tunnels where many of these street children live. It's certainly brilliantly made. Vandebrug shoots so up close and personal you can practically smell what it's like down there, (and he's on first-name terms with his subjects who trust him unconditionally), and he filmed it over a period of years with Nicu, (the outlaw of the title), narrating or at least keeping us up to date with what we're seeing. He then edited the picture so that Nicu's story emerges and yet I kept feeling it was done so as to draw our attention as to just how good a film-maker Vandeburg is and not specifically to the terrible conditions in which these people live. In the end, even the 'carers' don't quite come off as the decent human beings I am sure they are. Deeply depressing.