Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie Review

A Korean adoptee draws upon his life experiences.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 7, 2014

Films as diverse as Philomena and Oranges and Sunshine have made audiences more aware than ever of some of the horrifying practices in days gone by, when children were wrested from their biological parents’ arms and shipped off to some new, supposedly better, life in far off lands. Though it’s not widely remembered today, there was a similar situation which affected Korean children circa 1953 as the Korean conflict was winding down (at least as much as it ever has wound down). Thousands of little Korean refugee children were found abandoned and/or orphaned as the battles ended, and neither the North Korean nor the South Korean economies were able to deal with so many homeless, parentless kids. Two well meaning Americans named Harry and Bertha Holt visited South Korea during this period and were moved by the plight of these children, eventually setting up an organization that sought to find homes for as many of the kids as possible. The Holt program continues to this day, and it was in fact almost two decades after the end of hostilities on the Korean peninsula that a little tyke named Jung was one of several Korean children sent to Belgium to be adopted by Belgian parents. Jung grew up with an uneasy mix of comfort and insecurity, feeling (as do many adoptees) that he didn’t really belong to his new Belgian family, while at the same time he was deeply appreciative of the new level of relative luxury in which he found himself. Approved for Adoption is an interesting if not altogether successful or ultimately satisfying reminiscence by Jung himself, one which combines animation (Jung is an illustrator and animator), home movies, contemporary live footage of an adult Jung and, just for good measure, a sampling of archival footage like old newsreels. Like Jung’s childhood experience itself, Approved for Adoption is at times an uneasy mix of styles and influences, but it’s finally so unique as to deserve recognition for approaching its subject in such a highly distinctive way. If it never really addresses some fundamental issues that adoptees face, it still manages to detail some of the emotional ups and downs kids in Jung’s situation face.

Those who come to Approved for Adoption expecting some Philomena-esque level of revelation and/or catharsis may be slightly disappointed, for Jung doesn’t seem as intent on “solving” his identity as on merely reporting anecdotally some of what he’s been through. The film plays upon Jung’s lifelong facility with illustration, and there are several odd but still captivating transitions between live action, sketches the adult Jung is working on, and actual animated sequences, which tend to recount Jung’s childhood years. But there are no real big answers here, nor are there any disastrous crises. In fact it may be indicative of how primed the average American filmgoer is (if I may be so bold as to posit myself as “average”) that I half expected horrifying turns at several key moments, including one sequence that has a young Jung trying his “William Tell” archery skills out on his adoptive sister, and a longer arc that sees Jung kind of romantically pining after another one of his new female siblings.

It’s the very lack of cathartic insight that may be Approved for Adoption’s most perplexing feature. Jung certainly has a unique story, but there are so many questions left unanswered that the film feels distant from its subject, as if we’re only getting dribs and drabs of a much more involved tale. Jung was found as a young but still “old enough” 4 to 5 year old, and yet he seems to have no memories of his early childhood. Why? Even when Approved for Adoption starts to move in that direction, when it’s revealed that Jung has been sketching native Korean dancers almost subliminally without realizing it, the film doesn’t follow up on the information and it’s just another tantalizing but undeveloped clue. Similarly, we’re not really let into the family dynamic of the Belgians who adopt Jung. It’s mentioned that adopting Korean children was “chic” in Belgian society at the time, but are we meant to infer that that’s the reason this family adopted Jung? The family’s adoption of another Korean child, a little girl they name Valérie, is similarly unexplored and unexplained.

What is left is a series of sometimes quietly charming, sometimes upsetting, glimpses into Jung’s childhood years, along with some pretty furtive glances at his adult life, where the film depicts him doing things like sketching in a botanical garden or riding a bus in Seoul as he revisits Korea for the first time since being shuttled off to Belgium. The adult Jung does go about exploring some facets of his background, but the dead end depicted in the film is never satisfyingly explained, either. Is it a case of no supporting documents or clues to find Jung’s biological parents? Or is it simply of no ultimate interest to the filmmakers? It seems like a deliberately odd choice to leave this particular question hanging. There is a certain resolution, if no major catharsis, with Jung’s occasionally strident adoptive mother, who confesses something very special late in the film that helps Jung to feel a bit more accepted. It’s a small moment in a seemingly deliberately small film that nonetheless exemplifies the subtly touching emotion that bubbles through Approved for Adoption, something that ultimately helps the film at least partially overcome its halting narrative style.

Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Approved for Adoption is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm and G Kids with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. The animation style is very appealing and diverse here, so much so that it would probably be more accurate to cite animation styles. A combination of 3D rendering for characters and 2D for backgrounds is utilized to striking effect. The styles vary from a kind of proto-anime look at times, to rotoscoped looking characters who tend to have a variety of pencil shadings pass over their faces and clothing (as if they're being sketched). Some positively Freudian moments that erupt from Jung's memory at one point look like something out of a Maurice Sendak book. The palette in many of the animated sequences is honey colored, and for a reason—the original French title of this film translates as Color of Skin: Honey, a reference to one of the data points in Jung's adoption certificate. All of the animated sequences look nicely sharp and well detailed, with crisp line detail. Perhaps surprisingly, the contemporary live action elements don't really pop all that much, with subdued color and only average sharpness. The archival newsreel footage looks about like you'd expect it to, with lots of scratches and other damage.

Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Approved for Adoption features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix in the original French (with optional English subtitles). The surround mix here is frankly probably a bit of overkill, for the bulk of this film is merely voiceover narration spoken by Jung as he recounts various anecdotes. Some of the other characters are voiced, quite charmingly in fact, in the animated reminiscences, and occasionally in these scenes the soundfield will open up noticeably, if still subtly, with good attention to various ambient environmental sounds. Fidelity is excellent, with dialogue and effects being delivered cleanly and clearly.

Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (720p; 31:55) features clips from the film along with some good interviews with Jung.


• Trailer (1080p; 1:51)

Approved for Adoption Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Approved for Adoption provides a litany of fantastically interesting little tidbits in Jung's life, but too often these are dealt with as merely something to mention and then move on from. While what's here is quietly touching and never less than interesting, there's a sense that some underlying stories need more development and explanation. In an odd kind of way, Approved for Adoption plays like the anime subgenre "slice of life", with little, seemingly unimportant, animated anecdotes playing out with occasional moments of family dysfunction drama erupting from time to time. That approach provides enough swirl of emotion to keep things compelling, but there's no sense of resolution or realization, despite Jung's adoptive mom's "moment of truth" (which is kind of morbidly weird to begin with). Still, the visual style of this piece is so unusual that those with an interest in unusual animated fare may well want to check this out. With caveats in mind, Approved for Adoption comes Recommended.