After the two-day “Singha Durbar” blockade on Friday and Thursday, there was nothing new to be done this Saturday. So I decided to watch a movie and get back to college assignments later.[break]
I was suggested a 2005 release “innocent voices” by one of my friends. So I scoured the racks of a nearby DVD store to get it. Honestly, when I first got the DVD, I was expecting some sort of gunfiring and technology embedded violence between the heroes and the villains. But as I entered into the plot of the movie I couldn’t help being impressed. Directed by the internationally acclaimed Mexican director Luis Mandoki, “innocent voices” is a beautifully carved wartime story of El Salvador’s civil war by Oscar Torres who spent his childhood in El Salvador during the civil war in the 80s that lasted for almost 12 years. The story revolves around Chava (Carlos Padilla), an 11 year old boy of the Salvadorian suburbs who is dubbed “man of the house” by his mother, Kella (Leonor Varela), ever since his father left for better opportunities in the United States.
At the outset of the movie, soldiers are seen leading a handful of children including Chava through the jungle at gunpoint. The movie then backtracks to show how Chava came to be trapped in this dire position. Chava studies a school which is frequently visited by government soldiers in search of children to be recruited in the army. His mother has a brother Beto (Jose Maria Yazpik), a guitar strumming rebel who sings forbidden songs of love and freedom for Chava. It’s Beto who gives Chava a radio to listen to the rebel station.
Chava with his innocence lost because of the manhood he had to show by taking care of his young brother and a sister is dragged towards the rebels in due course of time. After losing his childhood sweetheart in a blast, he joins the rebel army. That is when he, along with some of his classmates are captured by government forces and taken for the execution.
The movie shows one common problem all over the world. The involvement of children in the war. Still today, more than 300,000 children are recruited in the army worldwide.
Everyone knows, childhood is the most precious stage of life. It should be let enjoyed with full innocence and happiness. The cuteness of the children that emerges from their innocence is extremely precious, sweet and lively. The movie shows how the children torn out by the war had to forcefully lose their innocence and try being grown ups. The innocent love of Chava with his fellow classmate is truly natural. And when the brutal claws of war tear them out, the children are left with nothing, no feelings.
The innocence in them dissipates as the war continues. In one of the scenes, as the principal of the school and a sergeant of the army call the name of boys to be recruited in the army, young boys get up to form a line heavily putting their playthings (marbles) down. What a cruel irony that replaces playthings with guns? It’s sad to notice these sorts of things happening in our country too, during the 10 year long “people’s war”. Still, the Maoists are not willing to release their combatants who are less than 18 years of age. The causes of war can be proven of course by smooth talks of the leaders of the war but the children should be kept aloof from the war. Their innocence, their childish pranks and mischief shouldn’t be left to be lost.
During wars, it’s highly possible for the mighty ones to suppress the weaker ones and it’s been a reality across the world that mostly children have suffered loss during war. The village shown in the movie resembled me of pictures of Nepali villages during wartime. Half burnt and plunged into the mourning of the death of people, it seemed to speak up against the ‘brave’ warriors who’ve turned small habitats of the poor people into battlefields. The movie made me think of Iraq, Afghanistan and the African counties where situation was even worse.
How might be the children at the outskirts of Bagdad be feeling? Would the children enjoy their childish games whenever they would notice that one of them is missing all of a sudden? It’s even harder for us to imagine how it would be like and people are facing the same problem each day. From the start of the movie till its end, it reminded me of a young girl named Maina Sunar who was reportedly tortured and killed by the Nepal Army staffers some years back. Like the children in the movie, she too was innocent and had no concerns with the war. Many such stories are still untold. And the children continue to suffer as more reasons to declare war unfolds.
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