Article Tools
Absurdity of war, thy name is Innocent Voices. Arriving at a time when warfare is almost ubiquitous and the resulting deaths feel increasingly like statistics, Voices is a strong suggestion that war just may be good for absolutely nothing. The autobiographical movie was written by Oscar Torres, chronicling the year of his 12th birthday, the age at which boys were recruited — or abducted — by El Salvador’s American-sponsored government. (In one scene surely meant as an anti-Bush wink, a grandmother chastises a Salvadorian boy for taking bubble gum from “the enemy,” an American soldier.) Torres is less interested in explaining the reasons behind the war than he is in detailing the evils and indignities of children at war. He and director Luis Mandoki are sensitive enough to focus not so much on battle scenes — all of which boast refreshingly tight editing — but on what really matters: how children, and families, stay sane in an insane world. Call it El Salvador’s Forbidden Games.
Opens October 14 at Landmark Sunshine
4l's
Comments (0)