Tod eines Teenagers

If you have never seen Silence of the Heart or if you haven't seen it in a long time, do yourself a favor and rent it. The performances are as moving now as they were almost twenty years ago. This movie is well worth your time.

Not many people watched the teen-suicide TV-movie "Surviving" in 1985, simply because they had already seen this one and felt the subject had been done appropriate justice (in fact, both films are excellent). This tentative effort is cautious but very sincere. It features down-to-earth suburban parents shocked over their son's self-inflicted death, hurt and confused in the aftermath while trying to deal with their mercurial daughter and the boy's troubled best friend (Charlie Sheen, doing solid work). It's heartfelt and well-acted, especially by Mariette Hartley as the mom (she's a crumbling tower of strength, and gives her lines such a realistic spin you may hear your own mother talking). Worth seeking out.

Why do people only give flowers and sentiment at funerals, and not to the living? This is a fact that many movies which address the subject of suicide fail to ask.

People do not think, until it is too late. Anyone who has lost someone, whether accidentally or by suicide, will empathize and be affected by this film. Mariette Hartley is excellent as Skip's mother, in denial about the "accident".

Howard Hesseman is also very good, working on his projects, avoiding reality, feeling he failed his son in some way, but not knowing what to do about it.

There is also a small part with Charlie Sheen, and his insensitive mother, who acts as if no one in her family could ever resort to such a thing. Sheen comments that she has no idea what goes on in the mind of a teenager. Chad Lowe, as Skip, portrays the disconsolate adolescent who is upset about his SAT scores, and decides he must escape from his life.

The character Penny, portrayed by Elizabeth Berridge, is very sensitive and real. She is angry at everyone, because she understood Skip and his suicide more than anyone else.

This is a film which should be shown in all high schools; suicide is a permanent and tragic choice for the temporarily depressed; unfortunately most parents are still too afraid to even acknowledge it, let alone try and discuss it with their kids. Hopefully future generations will be better at discussion, rather than sweeping emotional problems under the rug.

That great quote above is a question that was asked by Cindy Lewis, the daughter of Barbara and Carl Lewis.

Skip Lewis had been having a hard time in school. His grades are slipping and he did below par on his SAT. The most beautiful, popular girl in school just turned him down for a date, and it seems like nothing in his life is going good for him. So he decides that the only way that he can stop his pain is to commit suicide. So Skip gets his car, goes to a large hill just above the ocean, and drives full speed off of the hill without looking back.

His parents are in denial. They all think that it was an accident, and that Skip was a perfectly happy kid. But his friend Ken, and his sister Cindy know that it wasn't an accident. They saw the signs. Skip asking Ken if he were going to kill himself would he tell anyone. Skip giving Cindy his record collection. All things that they just brushed off without thinking.

This was a very good movie. I viewed it in Life Management class when we were studying suicide. The acting was very good, especially from Dana Hill. Her essay at the end of the movie titled `Silence of the Heart'. This was a time when everyone looked at suicide being done by a crazy person, which is not true. Cindy and her family had to go through people talking behind their backs, even at Skip's funeral. It shows you the warning signs of suicide, why it happens, and what we can do to prevent it. I would definitely recommend this movie. It's a TV movie true…but it still has a good message that everyone should see.

I liked this film, because friends, family and acquaintances have to come to terms with the suicide of a teenager who thought he had lost everything, who has to repeat another year, who has been rejected by the love of his life and by his family, and in reality many people have unfortunately given up too early and can no longer cope with life, although people like family, friends and acquaintances have stood by their side, but in the end life must go on for the people who are still alive and must also come to terms with the death of a family member, even in this film I still hope the German language, of course it is very sad when you commit suicide in this story, but otherwise I liked it.