Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Anoushka Slater While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Cameron Crawford Innocent Voices was an emotional roller coaster, being able to transition from joyous, to chaotic, to sad in an instant. The civil war was a great central theme of the movie, being able to provide chaos, sadness of death, sadness of children being taken, and also the aspect of choosing the rebellion or the army. One scene in particular that shifted in emotion very quickly was when Chava was pretending to drive a bus, and was going to his Christina Maria's house. The movie was always in a very happy point when Chava or his friends were pretending to drive a bus, but when Chava arrived at Christina's house, all happiness ended. He saw her house ramshackled by the war, then went inside to see her dress on the floor, torn to shreds. This scene was a real tear jerker, and allowed me to really sympathize with Chava and understand the hardships of war. Another time where the mood of the movie would shift very quickly was during one of the dinner scenes in the house. Chava's little sister farted, and they all started laughing and calling her "farty sister". This was such a happy-go-lucky part of the movie, but the second the bullets started to riddle the house, the mood changed instantly. Chava's little brother began to scream, everyone got under the bed, and Chava put the mattress up. The movie gets so intense and chaotic so fast, it almost makes it seem real. Overall, this movie does a great job of depicting a regular family in a war torn environment.

gradyharp INNOCENT VOICES (Voces inocentes) is a 2004 film from Mexico that relates a true story about he civil war in El Salvador from 1980 - 1992. It is based on a story by Oscar Orlando Torres who co-wrote the screenplay with director Luis Mandoki. It is a disturbing film in that in addition to relating the terror of living in a land where war raises it's spectral head randomly at day or night, but the focus of the film is on the fact that once boys reached the age of twelve years they were forcibly conscripted to become killing soldiers.According to the way history books have defined this war, 'The Salvadoran Civil War (1980- 1992) was a conflict in El Salvador between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing guerrilla groups. Significant tensions and violence had already existed, before the civil war's full outbreak, over the course of the 1970s. El Salvador's Civil War was the second longest civil war in Latin America after the Guatemalan Civil War. The United States supported the Salvadoran military dictatorship. The conflict ended in the early 1990s. Countless disappeared and More than 75,000 people were killed.'The story is brought to life by following a young boy Chava (Carlos Padilla in an outstanding performance) whose father left El Salvador for the US in 1980 leaving Chava as the man of the house for this mother Kella (Leonor Varela, in another fine performance) and his brother and sister. The story plays day by day as the bombs and shooting threaten the family and disperses them, results in the death of come of Chava's friends, the influence of Chava's Uncle Beto (José María Yazpik) and his fellow kind guerrilla Raton (Héctor Jiménez), the courage of the village Priest (Daniel Giménez Cacho), and the innocence of the village mentally challenged Fito (Jorge Angel Toriello). It is a tale of fear, devastation, and resilience on the part of Chava's family and fellow villagers. And once again it shows us, the audience, how blindly cruel war is, and that in the end there are no winners.The photography and musical score enhance the film's message, but it is the brilliance of the acting of this crew of actors that makes the film touch the heart so profoundly. Grady Harp

annahauser2000 Stunning film about the Salvadoran Civil War, told through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy, who, once he hits twelve, will be rounded up with other children and forced into military service, fighting for the US supported government. As shocking as the reality of the subject matter is, the film plays out peppered with good humor as we watch this mischievous little boy and his similarly mischievous friends carry on being children in spite of the horrors unfolding around them. Watching and laughing at these charming children brings a weight of sadness as we know they will soon have to grow up or die.Because the impoverished locals didn't stand a chance against the U.S. funded military machine of El Salvador, they had to resort to guerrilla warfare, which in turn prompted the creation of US sponsored death squads whose role was to spread terror amongst the locals. They did this by killing over 75,000 innocent people.

Restrapo Perez The film depicted the atrocities of war in a realistic yet not a voyeuristic perspective. Humor was even effectively used in the film when young Chavo changed the radio station from the song of the insurgency to Gloria Naylor's "I Will Survive"! Doble entendre for sure.The film took me back to the excellent photo exhibit on the El Salvador conflict that was held in midtown New York a couple of years back. The photos depicted several young boys that had their bodies savagely mutilated. Watching the film conjured up the stark images from the photo exhibit in New York. The film also recalled a protest that I watched with my own eyes in St. Paul,MN against the war in El Salvador. The protesters marched in the streets and ended at a local church near downtown St. Paul. This protest took place around 1988.I understand the concept of realpolitik, dealing with conflicts in the world from a perspective of national security. However, I can't help thinking how the conflict could have been avoided or ended sooner if our country (USA) invested more dollars in alleviating poverty than in sending in military trainers.