Jung, the Korean-born creator of this inventive and moving autobiographical animated feature, is only five years old when a policeman finds him abandoned and wandering the streets of Seoul. His life then changes completely when he is adopted and sent to live with a couple in France who already have three biological children. In recently shot documentary footage, Jung is shown years later revisiting the country of his birth, looking for clues to the identity of his biological mother and attempting to reconcile the past with the present. An adaptation of artist and writer Jung’s graphic novel-memoir, Approved for Adoption deftly blends the live action sequences with the animated story of Jung’s childhood in France, a period filled with happy memories and painful ones as he develops a personal identity. The poignant resulting film is one that approaches the subject of adoption in a unique, honest and unsentimental fashion. It finds new language to express not only what it feels like to be an adopted child from a vastly different culture, but also what it means to be adoptive parents.
