Innocent Voices (12A)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.One can't imagine the fantasy escape routes employed in Tideland would be available to the children growing up in El Salvador during the civil war of the 1980s. Then, to take their eyes off reality for a second - any deviation from curfew, any word out of turn - could mean being killed.
Based on the actual experiences of writer Oscar Torres, this is a harrowing account of the war, as seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy. Chava (Carlos Padilla) lives with his young mother (Leonor Varela) and his siblings in a shanty village in the middle of the war zone. Each night their hut is caught in the crossfire between the army and guerrillas, the children hiding under the bed as their home is ripped apart by bullets; by day, poverty brings its own pressures to a community robbed of its men, who are either dead or fighting.
Chava faces an additional problem: when the boys reach their 12th birthday, they are rounded up at school and forced into the army. The scenes of child conscription are among the film's most disturbing. The real horror, though, is in watching the brutalisation of boys compelled to kill.
The courage and love demonstrated by these women and children lighten a film that otherwise would be bleak beyond words. Varela conveys the mother's tremulous grip on her emotions, while young Padilla dispels inapt sentimentality with a steely presence reminiscent of Christian Bale's debut in Empire of the Sun.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments