Customer Reviews

Innocent Voices

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Innocent Voices" is one of those films that simply blows you away with its incredibly moving story, great acting, directing, and cinematography. I had the privilege of seeing this film at Talk Cinema, where you see films in theaters on Saturday or Sunday morning weeks or months before they are released -- so there are no reviews to hinder your pure enjoyment of the film. We walk into the movie theater with no idea what we're going to see that morning. The 400 film fans in the theater that sunny September 2005 morning had no idea what to expect from this "Innocent Voices" film which, sadly, got virtually no theatrical distribution in Chicagoland.

I'll not repeat the summary of the film that others have posted here. It's the film's impact that reflects so well on the power of this medium.

After the closing credits ran, there was total silence in the auditorium, broken only by the soft sound of sobbing all around. And then you realized you were among those in tears. I haven't seen such a reaction to a film since "Schindler's List." It is hard to describe the emotional impact of this often funny, but ultimately very moving semi-autobiographical film. It's a shame you can't see in the theaters any more, but I strongly recommend seeing "Innocent Voices" on DVD with a loved one with whom you can share a healthy cry at the end. You will be changed.

"We here are all scared of turning twelve," explains Chava, "because that's when the army takes you. I have one year left." Innocent Voices takes place in El Salvador's civil war that raged from 1980-1992, but it could have been set in any of the dozens of countries around the world where governments and "liberation" armies recruit child soldiers. In El Salvador, the authoritarian government, with a billion dollars of aid and training from the United States ("They're training our soldiers to kill us."), forcibly conscripted young boys to fight its civil war against the FMLN. Since his father left for the US, eleven-year-old Chava is the "man of the house." The film revolves around the plight of his extended family. Chava follows his Uncle Beto and sides with the rebels, but his mother Kella observes that they, too, conscript their kids. Innocent Voices reinforces the truth that in all modern wars, the biggest losers by far are innocent civilians. Co-writer Oscar Orlando Torres based this award-winning film on his own memoirs. In Spanish, with English sub-titles.

The movie is based on a true story, sometimes movies are made like this one, and is it part of our own life....many of us (Salvadorean kids)had to experience this.
Under age Salvadorean kids are forced to join the army; so they have to hide from the soldiers, in this case a kid have to be the man of the house after his father leaves the family and moves to the USA to help his family, he is told that the army is trained by the US forces and his uncle is a "guerrillero" the movie is about his survival in a small town where the daily attacks by the army takes place.

First at all let me tell you that unfortunately this horror is not fiction I am living proof that can assure you this is real, and trust me when i says this this movie portrait just the half of what i live.
The first time that I saw this movie I could not stop crying. I felt like it was me going again the way I try every day to forget. I noticed that this writer takes sides. He portrait the salvadorean army as the enemy. Well that was good for him because I did not had any side. I just was waiting who, the army or guerrilla, would be the first to kill me. I recommend this movie for everyone who like crying, and for someone who ever live a war. but, please before watching it see the rating. Once you have seen it you'll never forget it.

"Innocent Voices" is a film about the harrowing impact of war on a young boy. The simple fact that Chava survives such a grueling childhood is a testimony to the personal courage of Chava himself. Based on a true story, Chava (the eleven year-old protagonist) uses his wits and blind luck to evade being inducted into the Salvadorean army to fight the peasant guerilla rebels.
The gifted young actor who plays Chava blends a mixture of horror and wonder to illustrate the traumatizing effects of war on his simple, humble life. He plays with his friends, courts a nice girl, and is constantly stressing his mother by wandering away in the middle of military invasions. Tension reigns as a quiet dinner can be interrupted by gunshots cracking and bullets smashing through windows, forcing Chava and his family to lay flat under beds to avoid being blown apart. One touching scene occurs when an uncle (from the guerilla resistance) visits and warfare breaks out just beyond their porch step. The uncle calms the terrified family by strumming a soothing tune on his guitar while laying on his back, shrapnel whining overhead in a disturbing cacophony.
There are many memorable scenes. A priest tries to maintain his integrity as acts of immorality threaten to overwhelm him. A delayed man with the mind of a child commits an act of bravery that earns a brutal punishment later. Kids run around playing hide-and-seek and then find the game taking a traumatic turn as they flee from rampaging soldiers who want to recruit them. Chava is nearly snared by death many times as he ventures into harm's path in a way that suggests he has lived in a battleground far too long.
He shows a rebellious spirit by playing a "banned" radio song in front of lounging soldiers when he is angry at them. Another time, he plays a disco song and dances in front of them, a scene I found to be funnier and more inspired than the humor in most modern comedies. When he and his friends are playing by the river and a young soldier flaunts his newfound firepower, shooting a rifle into the air, one can sense Chava wondering if he is being a coward by not joining the army. The other kids are both awed and intimidated by the young soldier's brashness. It's a relief that Chava realizes that war will only shatter his life and he resists being "used" by men who think it's acceptable to turn little kids into killing machines.
Some say this film is a piece of propaganda accusing the U.S. of supplying weapons to the Salvadorean army and training their soldiers. Others say it is lopsided, lionizing the guerillas and showing only their point of view. Many will claim it is too depressing. I disagree. There are surprising moments of humor that distract from the horrors of war. Throughout it all, the children only want to live normal lives, and they struggle to retain their innocence by taking the artillery strikes in stride. I don't think the film is propaganda, I think it's educational. If I was an eleven year-old living in El Salvador at this time, I wouldn't care who was right, I would simply want the battle that is tearing my village apart to end. I think the goal it to show Chava's perspective. He endures hardships that rupture the foundation of who's right or wrong and sends out a heartbreaking plea of surrender if this will make the carnage end.

I was born here in the U.S. and all my life I grew up listening to stories about war and so on. I never imagined the atrocities my parents and grandparents had to go through. This movie brought me to tears as my dad remembers hiding down the well, so the guerilla warriors wouldnt find him. My mothers tells of not sleeping because she was afraid the guerilla or guardia civil (u.s. backed military) would break in and rape all her 5 sisters, mother and grandmother. I couldnt visualize in my mind how bad it was until I saw this movie. I recommend it to those who have salvadorean roots or just to the general public. It is important to see the atrocities the U.S. government did and still to this day does in other countries.

Very emotional and very poetic story, based on true events during the El Salvadorean civil war. Mild colors of love and care are beautifully contrasted to colors of cruelty of war and military regime. The fact that's based on real people and real events, gives the story and its messages an additional, very powerful dimension.

I suggest to watch it more than once to catch the most beautiful from this movie. At the first watching I was completely overwhelmed by impressions of war atrocities, inhumanity, injustice and evil; at the next watching I was able to better perceive very emotional and affectionate relationships behind the dark heavy veil of war; later on I became more aware of very good acting, and found other fine details.

I must repeat here what other reviewers said: this film all should see, because Innocent Voices speak so loudly!!!

One of movies reaching the deepest of my heart, so it's absolutely one of my favorite-10 films.

Mandoki presents a society through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy of almost innocent victims who are caught in a blinding, irrational crossfire between government troops and rebels in a poor village or suburb in El Salvador in the mid-1980s.

Based on a true story of Oscar Torres, it follows the drama between a forced enlistment at age 12 in the Salvadorian army, or joining up with the rebels.

There is no political rhetoric -- the eleven-year-old, "Shorty," sees his father abandon the family for the United States when the shooting starts. Why is never explained. An uncle helps the family -- only later do we find that he is a rebel leader of a group just outside of town and responsible for a lot of shooting in the neighborhood.

The childish play of Shorty and his friends is against a backdrop of brutality, fighting and murder -- there is no morality -- only the struggle to survive and be a kid.

The movie is a shattering experience of the impact of war on a family and community for the movie viewer. No nobility of sentiment, only the crash and crush of events that Shorty and his family must endure. I think it is one of the best anti-war movies I've seen since "All's Quiet on the Western Front."

***** 2004. Co-written and directed by the Mexican director Luis Mandoki (Message in a Bottle and Angel Eyes). Numerous awards earned in international festivals. El Salvador in the 80's. Chava lives in a village that lies between the Salvadorian army and the guerrilla warfare. He must hide with his friends when the army starts to enlist by force 12 years old boys. While watching this motion picture, I never had the feeling that it was pro-guerrilla or anti-Salvadorian army. INNOCENT VOICES is simply anti-civilian wars if it absolutely must be anti-something. Seen through the eyes of a kid, any war will seem awful even if it is justified by noble ideas. The director manages to provoke in our heart emotion and empathy and cinema is primarily about this. Masterpiece.

5 of my friends from El Salvador cried when they watched the movie becuse the movie brought them a lot memories of what really happened to them before coming to the USA. Recommeded.