ironhorse_iv Most people understanding of the Amish, might come from the movie 'Witness' or Weird Al 'Amish Paradise'. Then there are those who mistake the Amish for other groups such as Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the Quakers. They are not the same as Amish. This movie directed by Lucy Walker is a great inside of the culture that drives the occasional buggy by the side of the road. It's rare and lucky of them to get access to the Amish community, and how they found their subjects and how they organized the stories and information they gathered. It makes me wonder how this film was even possible. Lucy Walker neither criticizes, romanticizes nor patronizes her subject which is good in a way, but I would have love to see harder questioning about what I can seeing here. I had no idea that such a rigid, conservative culture could also possess such a wide open and liberal component to their lifestyle. The cover of the DVD of an Amish woman lighting up a cigarette speaks so much about what rumspringa 'running around' is about without speaking a word. The title, Devil's playground refers in Amish vernacular as the 'English' or outside world. During rumspringa, several Amish youths have the right to enter the English World to experience whatever they want in life that even the vices such as drinking, illegal drugs, or pre-marital sex for a period of time until they must decide to become Amish by baptize or leave their community. If they are baptized, then leave the church, they will be shunned by family and friends. There has to be a strong religious connection if one is to be baptized. Amish adults must be able or willing to die for their faith if challenge and follow the Ordnung (Order). The film follows a few Amish teenagers in LaGrange County, Indiana who enter the English world and experience such debaucheries. The central figure in the movie is Faron, a preacher's son and a methamphetamine drug dealer whose life spirals out of control. Not all teens are like this. Others seek just to drive cars, wear modern clothes and cut and style their hair in more fashionable styles for a few days before they cannot do it anymore. There is yet another one who leaves behind her family so she can go to college. I would love to see more children. The teens interviews are all strong as they are in many ways like deeply religious small town kids anywhere: confused and self-obsessed, but basically decent, and given to projecting a theological dimension onto the normal pains of growing up. Beneath the strange clothing is a familiar conflict between piety and sin. I could only imagine the emotional strain and guilt that these kids go through throughout their lives, and especially during rumspringa. It takes a very strong mind to break through what you've already been conditioned to think up to the age of 16. The interviews with Amish adults are the most interesting about the film in my opinion. I learn that the Amish are not opposed to technology per se, just technology that they consider disruptive to their way of life such as television. The adult's attitude towards sex, is very surprisingly laid back as long as it leads to an Amish marriage and Amish children. The adults interviewed for this film come across as relaxed and candid rather than a crazy religious extremist. They act like they are sad about the outside world, rather than mad. By choosing never to engage the modern world, they have feel little need to either judge it or defend themselves. The movie also foreshadows a large different between the adults and the children. There is a huge inner change going on in the Amish community. More and more Amish are working in factories, getting money and starting to drive cars. The film states out that about 90% of Amish teens do eventually commit to their religion for life, but it doesn't tell how much they are changing the religion within. I think this is the reason why this documentary was able to gain access in the Amish community. There seems to be a great change within the Amish. Now to the faults of the film, it seems have skipped over some details about being Amish such as what happen if a teenager girl get pregnant during the rumspringa. Are they kick out or able to join the group? Nor does the documentary tells why they must choice to baptize so quickly. If you die before you choose the church, what happens to your soul? The movie is a good example of how natural teenage phase out of the identity crisis. I just hope that there is someone who will listen and help each child work out their own plan. Give it a watch if interested in Amish culture.

butterfinger What a godforsaken waste of a brilliant subject for a documentary! Commenting on the conflict between tradition and modern trends, Lucy Walker's The Devil's Playground is about Amish teenagers who get into drugs, drinking, and hardcore partying. And would you believe me if I told you that it is one of the most gutless and incompetent documentaries I have ever seen? All I can say is, the fear of seeing a movie this terrible ever again brings me one step closer to wanting to join a culture devoid of the presence of the media. This film is so muddled that it randomly examines a handful of characters while cutting to an old Amish man yapping about teenagers and peer pressure; when it gets bored with the old man, it goes back to one of the teenagers and when it gets bored with that teenager, it jumps to another one. There is no sense of emotional flow, pacing, or structure. Lucy Walker can't even engage us moment-by-moment, constantly adding corny music like a documentary-soap-opera. She is so technically incompetent that she goes for a moment of (cheap) emotional impact with a character while a gargantuan locomotive blasts by a hundred feet behind him.Sometimes the material is engaging despite Walker but that is rare… Oh, and then there's Faron-I can't wait to talk about Faron. Faron is a moronic Amish teenager who is bewildered as to whether he should move back to the family farm and live the Amish or if he should continue living in a trailer and have constant parties. Faron is a drug addict whose life is a mess of small ups and big downs. However, Lucy Walker must be dumber than Faron if she doesn't realize what a mess his life is and treats every up and down like an exciting new story development: Faron is in deep trouble with drug dealers for ratting on his friend and his girlfriend leaves him! (Sad music.) Faron skips town, plans to become Amish again, gets a job working for his father, and gets a new girlfriend! (Happy music.) Faron's girlfriend dumps him, his father fires him, and he moves back into his old trailer and starts getting drunk regularly! (Sad music) Faron goes to find ex-girlfriend to get back together with her and gets a new job! (Happy music) Faron crashes his car on his way to work and loses his job! (Sad music) Faron gets a job as a parking lot attendant and has some vague plans of going back to farm someday! Every single one of these plot revelations is treated melodramatically. And then the film just ends on an up-note (the great parking lot gig) without even considering the possibility that things will go badly later on. What about the guy that Faron ratted on? When he gets out of prison, won't he be angry? All he'll have to do to find out where Faron-the-moron is hiding is to watch The Devil's Playground. But that will prove to be an unbearable task indeed. Footnote: In this mess of a film there is one compelling facet: it is able to explain why a teenager would want to be Amish-an incredibly impressive achievement in the middle of an incredibly horrendous disaster.

sumdenguy This was a decent documentary. It gets all the partying out of the way early and then digs deeper into what drives these Amish kids. I thought the best interviews and most insightful comments came from the adult Amish they talked to. I'd love to hear more about how they gave up the Rumspiga for the Church...but alas, those wacky Amish aren't really into talking to the english. Anyways, check it out, it's really the only peek you're gonna get into their world.

Yaniv Eidelstein this film is based around a fascinating subject; the amish custom of allowing every boy or girl who turns sixteen to do anything he or she pleases, no holds barred. apparently, the amish believe it is wrong to baptise infants, and that they're supposed to choose the amish way as free-thinking adults.the opening titles explaining this raised my expectations, as did the movie poster: an image of a girl in an amish bonnet, sitting in the back seat of a car, lighting a cigarette. it felt like a stolen moment; like an exciting departure from everything she's been taught. what would teens like this do, give free rein for the first time in their lives? what would it feel like to taste the things that were always off limits?well according to this movie, amish teenagers are just as debauched as anyone in western society; they have no qualms about doing anything at all; nothing seems exciting or new to them. they're just relieved that their nuisance parents are out of the way so that they can finally get on with their partying, driving and drugging.and how do the parents feel about allowing their children to turn their backs on every value they ever taught them? that would be a challenging concept to any parent, let alone one in a supposedly closed, puritanical society. well, we'll never know, as the amish refuse to be filmed or photographed.stripped of all the interesting questions, this remains a slick docu-soap in the mtv "real world" tradition, with no insights to offer; just a peek into the lives of a few amish teens, who may or may not be examples of anything larger than themselves.