i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Throughout the movie Innocent Voices, Luis Mandoki enlightens the viewer on the a tragic situation that took place in El Salvador. Based on a true story, Innocent Voices is about the struggles that kids had to endure during a war between the government and the guerrillas, a resistance group. Chava, the main character, is a young boy who is left the man of the house when his father leaves his family just as the country enters war. Chava displays bravery and brings a different point of view towards war and how it affects the kinds intermingled in it. From hiding under a bed from incoming bullets to spreading the word about the upcoming government child recruitment, Chava constantly does what he can to help his uncle, a guerrilla, and his family from being subjected to unfair treatment. Chava also begins to like a classmate of his and is cutely nicknamed "toad" by her. Through the child's perspective on war, director Luis Mandoki educated me on different social problems that occur in El Salvador including the lack of education. He also subtly introduces the reason for the war which is because the government tried taking land from the peasants. The many different social problems that the movie addresses was very refreshing compared to the constant flow of action movies seen in the U.S. This movie is an amazing movie which I would recommend to people with most any taste as it satisfies many different likes.

I liked this film, however it was not one of my favorites so far out of all the films we have watched. I noticed that there were no sex scenes, in contrast to the other foreign films, which had a lot. It did have a lot of violence, similarly to the others. There was a slight difference between the type of violence in this film than the others, and that was that the characters were not fighting the violence, they were trying to get away from it. This is partly because they were innocent people in a war, not angry people in gangs. This also goes to show why the movie was called "Innocent Voices", because not only were they innocent families, but also children bring a sense of innocence as well. My favorite character was Chava's girlfriend because she seemed to make him so happy, and of course, she was really cute. Although the movie was very heavyhearted, she brought some lightheartedness to the feel of it, since we did not really experience her struggles, so we only really saw her when she was happy and being sweet to Chava. I was surprised when the children's school was stopped so that the kids could be recruited. I did not realize how many child soldiers are forced into war, which makes me feel so ignorant! I was also surprised that none of Chava's family were killed during one of the many attacks, since in the other films, one of the main characters often dies.

I have mixed feeling on this film. The idea was very good and the message it portrayed was very significant and powerful, but I felt like the acting and production quality was lacking. I really disliked the lead actor and felt like he was very cliché and cheesy. He was also a horrible actor to begin with. Other than that, the movie was very powerful. I rally liked how it showed the perspective of the civil war from the innocent civilians' side. Chava, the eleven year old main character, had a very touching story. There were some moments of his though that were very corny, for example when he walks into his crush's destroyed house. He picks up some of her tattered, burned clothing, grips it tightly in his fist, and runs off to join the resistance. Other than that, I liked how the movie portrayed the every day struggles of those not in the war. Almost every night, out of nowhere, military soldiers would raid the slums, shooting up each house. I personally could never imagine how hard that would be to live with until I saw this movie.

I enjoyed this film especially because it was the only Latin American film that I have seen so far that had a truly happy ending. Chava, the main character, was placed in a horrible situation of war as a young child. He was 11, turning 12 during the film, and was constantly in fear of being recruited into the government's army since they recruited 12 year old boys. I liked how the director weaved in moments of childhood innocence and activities among the children. It showed that despite the war, children will still continue to have fun and be resilient. I also liked how music was used to help tell the story. It helped set the scene and also showed a different mode of resilience. It was interesting how Chava would walk around with the rebel radio playing in front of the government's soldiers. It seems like a very bold move. I think the movie did a good job of showing the horrible situation in El Salvador during its civil war and the struggles of its citizens. Overall I would give it ⅘ stars.