The Berkeley Beacon

Issue date: 10/13/05 Section: Arts and Entertainment

Media Credit: www.innocentvoicesmovie.com www.innocentvoicesmovie.com Innocent: Chava (Carlos Padilla) looks to the skies in the new film Innocent Voices (Voces Inocentes). Photo courtesy of www.innocentvoicesmovie.com

Innocent Voices (Voces Inocentes) is a powerful, socially conscious war film about an 11-year-old boy finding his place during the civil war in El Salvador in the 1980s. The film, from experienced director Luis Mandoki (Message in a Bottle, Angel Eyes), shows the war through the eyes of Chava (Carlos Padilla), a young boy forced to become the "man of the house" when his father abandons the family in search of a better life in the United States.

At that time in El Salvador, the government began recruiting boys for the army when they turned 12. This leaves Chava in fear of his imminent birthday as he watches his friends being forced to join the army. His village becomes a war zone and his schoolyard transforms as the government and guerilla soldiers send bullets through the windows nightly. The imagery is powerful because it does not focus on the gore and violence so common in war films today, but instead shows pain and terror. Emotional scenes illustrating thefear of a mother whose son hasn't yet returned from school take precedence over gruesome depictions of murder and torture.

The opening shot of a group of young boys being herded through the rain and mud by armed guards to an unknown fate sets the tone for the entire film. Based on the true story of its screenwriter Oscar Torres, the film shows the progression of a young boy who goes from playing in the streets to dodging recruitments and bullets almost overnight.
Innocent Voices asks the question of whether or not innocence can be preserved in a time of war-especially in a country where fighting takes place in the streets.

In a discussion with the viewers following a screening of the film, Mandoki stressed the social relevance of the movie at a time when war is acknowledged but not completely comprehended by Americans. Because the fighting is not happening in our backyards, many Americans are unaware of the realities and cruelties of war.

"It is important for me to bring this movie into this country," Mandoki said. "[It] should be watched by children because children are our future."

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