| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
A |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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|
| Visuals: |
B+ |
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Harsh violence but not too gratuitous
by The Critiquer also Ringfan (movies profile)
Feb 4, 2006
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
I went in to see Luis Mandoki's "Innocent Voices" not knowing what to expect. This is the best way to see a film. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I watched the day-to-day struggles of the boys in the film all of them wishing that their twelfth birthdays would never come as in El Salvador in the 80's it meant instant recruitment into the army to fight the civil war against the rebel oppression.
Young Chava (Carlos Padilla)is short for his age and lives with his mother, younger brother Ricardito and sister who has constant gas so the boys call her "Farty Sister". The children must obey a curfew and be indoors no later than 4pm. At night when mom goes to work the fighting starts and the children have to put a mattress in front of the window and hide under the bed frame otherwise they'd be shot.
Young Padilla reminds me of a juvenile Alejandro Rey (The Flying Nun) and he has a wonderful range of natural facial expressions. It's also sweet that we see him wrapped up in a case of puppy love and how that turns out.
Mandoki's direction is crackling and his script is sharp and tight and the resoultion highly satisfactory. The editing is crisp and the photography is lush and haunting. This is a film not be be missed, find it. |
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