Tyler Wojtowicz
LA RAZA-190
Summer 2012
Film Review-Innocent Voices
Innocence of Love
Innocent Voices the story of struggle, love, and survival. Innocent Voices shed a humanistic light of resistance, defiance over a military state. The story of Chava, an El Salvador a young boy who wants to live a normal childhood, soon learns growing up in a civil war is anything but normal. Chava’s family is in constant danger as the war rages closer and closer to home. In addition Chava the “man of the house” is constantly in danger of become causality due to the recruiting methods of the El Salvadorian Army. Chava has initiative and determination, in addition to an extensive imagination. These characteristics help give Chava a advantage on daily life in El Salvador and a memory in our hearts.
Innocent voices held a suspenseful plot. At times I was on the edge of my seat. The director did an excellent job at directing the film through the eyes of a Chava and his family. The stories of sorrow and happiness are easily relatable, and at time found myself feeling the same emotions as Chava.
The Story of Chava although a heartfelt film often felt a leftist and filled with propaganda. For instance early in the film a gringo gave a piece of gum to Chava. Chava was forced to spit it out by an old woman after she stated to him that the gum come from people who kill our people. The director gives a one sided approach to the civil conflict, although heavily exploiting the emotions of the child