A young woman is delivered of a healthy male child. She is giving birth anonymously, as "Jane Doe". Now that a baby boy has been left in the care of the Nation, the various social services set out to find the very best foster parent(s) and, especially, the very best adoptive parent(s)...
"Pupille" boasts a lot of assets : an unusual subject, a close look at the working of a little-known legal mechanism, a bunch of interesting and very human characters, plus a whole list of discussion items about fertility, parenthood, foster care and adoption. "Pupille" is also very moving. The movie has a more or less happy ending, with a decent and kind-hearted lady finally obtaining the adoptive child she had been praying for. But behind this one lucky woman there are at least ten non-lucky men and women who have been waiting in vain - and who will continue to wait in vain, possibly until their dying day.
Watch the movie carefully and you'll get an idea of the deep misery many well-meaning and inoffensive people are experiencing - and not only in Europe. You can't adopt a child if you're too young, but if you're 40 or 50, you're already too old. You can't adopt if you're too busy, but if you don't have a job you'll be unable to support a child. You need to spend many years fighting the red tape, the disappointments, the refusals, but you shouldn't get tired and embittered, which would disqualify you. If you're willing to adopt a child of a different race or origin you're too superficial and needy ; if you're not willing to do so you're narrow-minded and ignorant. If you get involved in an international adoption involving a third-world country you're contributing to human trafficking ; if the idea of an international adoption scares you you're unwilling to think outside of the box. When celibate, you should get married ; when married, you should get divorced ; when divorced, you should have stayed married ; when widowed, you should spend the next three, five, ten years recovering from your trauma ; and on and on and on. It's like the social and legal minefield from Hell.
"Pupille" boasts a lot of assets : an unusual subject, a close look at the working of a little-known legal mechanism, a bunch of interesting and very human characters, plus a whole list of discussion items about fertility, parenthood, foster care and adoption. "Pupille" is also very moving. The movie has a more or less happy ending, with a decent and kind-hearted lady finally obtaining the adoptive child she had been praying for. But behind this one lucky woman there are at least ten non-lucky men and women who have been waiting in vain - and who will continue to wait in vain, possibly until their dying day.
Watch the movie carefully and you'll get an idea of the deep misery many well-meaning and inoffensive people are experiencing - and not only in Europe. You can't adopt a child if you're too young, but if you're 40 or 50, you're already too old. You can't adopt if you're too busy, but if you don't have a job you'll be unable to support a child. You need to spend many years fighting the red tape, the disappointments, the refusals, but you shouldn't get tired and embittered, which would disqualify you. If you're willing to adopt a child of a different race or origin you're too superficial and needy ; if you're not willing to do so you're narrow-minded and ignorant. If you get involved in an international adoption involving a third-world country you're contributing to human trafficking ; if the idea of an international adoption scares you you're unwilling to think outside of the box. When celibate, you should get married ; when married, you should get divorced ; when divorced, you should have stayed married ; when widowed, you should spend the next three, five, ten years recovering from your trauma ; and on and on and on. It's like the social and legal minefield from Hell.