Silenced

To think this actually happened in real life makes me so mad. South Korea really needs to have harsher laws against sexual abuse. Even today they still have a long way to go .

Let me just say that while watching this, I would've happily given up my front row seat in Hell to have been there when these innocent children were being so viciously abused. Wigs would've be snatched and grills thoroughly cleaned!

The utter cruelty, entitlement and depravity of these individuals is absolutely unforgivable. The people who let them get away with it are just as disgusting for sacrificing justice for the victims for their own personal gain.

It's a good movie that you are going to hate watching.

The film is based on actual events that happened in Gwang Ju, South Korea. People assume that actual events were dramatized in the film, but apparently the actual events were more heinous than the movie. Gong Yoo read the novel The Crucible/Silenced (Dogani, 2009) while serving his mandatory military service and became involved in the film making.

The child actors were amazing. Because they had to portray deaf and mute children, they had to rely on their facial gestures, sign language, and sounds (cries and screams). They were simply amazing at depicting complex emotions.

Johan Lebbing is wrong. Gong Yoo is not holding a bible at the end of the movie (that would make no sense whatsoever in this movie). He's taking the subway and holding a cake from Tous Les Jours (a Korean boulangerie/patisserie chain) because it's Christmas. He's probably going home to his daughter.

South Korea is pretty lenient with sex offenders in general, and this movie caused an uproar in South Korea about sex crimes.

Silenced (aka the Crucible) is a 2011 South Korean film that is not really an easy watch. It's quite good for the most part, but it will leave a bad taste in your mouth for sure. I do recommend watching it, but with the caveat that it will pretty much spoil your evening afterwards. So, you've been warned!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

I have a number of general rules that I try to live by, which allow me to go about my life in a civilized society with a clear conscience. These rules include simple mundane courtesies like saying thank you or opening the door for little old ladies or not flipping the bird to that idiot who doesn't know how to drive, to more serious matters like not disrupting someone else's marriage or abusing animals for kicks or cheating someone out of their life savings (which would, incidentally, be quite easy to do in my line of work). My list of rules escalate to not hurting people, but the list has always topped out with the following: DO NOT PHYSICALLY, MENTALLY, OR SEXUALLY ABUSE CHILDREN!

If you don't know already, this movie is all about breaking my "golden rule" stated above. A school chock full of deviant teachers, principals, and employees, which has been systematically and repeatedly raping, beating, and torturing the child students there on a wide scale. To make matters worse (if that's possible), is the fact that this is a school for the deaf & mute, and that many of these children are from broken homes, are orphaned, poor, etc.

To top it off, this movie is based on a true story (a thought, which frankly, I could not get out of my head while watching the thing). Now, I'm not privy as to what was depicted in the movie is actually factual, or what amount of dramatic license was invoked, or what have you. But even if the tiniest bit of any of this is even remotely true, the, I am utterly disgusted. Sadly however, I am no longer surprised by hearing stories like this in the world I live in.

As for the movie itself, it basically revolves around a new teacher who comes to the school and soon uncovers the abuses within. He and a human rights activist he gets to know begin to work to help the children in harm's way, and to punish those involved with the crimes. It's a straight up drama story line and courtroom procedural for the most part. There's little to no action or vengeance involved, and it's not anywhere near as graphic as it might have been (considering the subject matter) if this were part of some other type of film genre.

Production, pacing, and story are all solid enough. Acting is pretty strong throughout (particularly from the children, which had to be bit uncomfortable, performance wise, for them). There's a side story involving the new teacher's child, which quickly takes a back seat to the primary plot point, along with the hinting of a budding relationship between said teacher and the activist. Aside from that, this film focuses almost exclusively on the evil deed at hand, what will be done about it once uncovered, and what efforts the community will go to in order to just make this all go away as quickly & quietly as possible. Oh, and this IS a Korean production, so (SUPER SPOILERS), you might not want to get your hopes up for the happiest of endings.

Bottom line: It's in the 7-8 out of 10 stars range for me. I'll give it an 8, because it is stuck in my brain (at least for now) after watching it, and it was well done overall. And, after all, isn't that what watching cinema is all about?...If you want any type of a remotely "feel good/good time flick", watch something else!...but, if you're in the right mood to watch a solid and effecting drama about a sad and horrible topic, than this film comes fairly well recommended by yours truly!

Do-ga-ni / Silenced (2013) : Brief Review -

Another heart-wrenching and disturbing classic with Korean Realism. It proves again that Law & Justice is nothing but a big joke in real life. Based on real events, Silence depicts the story of a school for the hearing-impaired where young deaf students girls and boys both were sexually assaulted by the faculty members over a long period of time. Don't tell me that reading this don't leave your mind disturbed. I have always admired the level of Brutalism and Realism in Korean films but earlier most of the times it was about thriller and revenge dramas. Now, I admire Korean Realism for showing the Cruel and brutal true events happened in the society and how helpless victims can be. You know i sometimes believe that this Law & Justice looks effective and useful only in reel world. Just like any fictional piece of writing, cops and court would do correct justice. But in real life it doesn't happen like that and this film proves it. Not just this, i have seen two more films just recently to prove it. 'Miracle In Cell No. 7', 'Hope' and now this 'Silenced' have convinced me to believe so. In all three films we see the wrong side of Law & Justice and we hate it like anything. Silenced is more brutal because it shows the cruelty against children, not adults. This was before Hollywood made Oscar Winning 'Spotlight' (2015), a film based on sensitive and taboo subject like spiritual abuse. Here, it was child abuse with more cruelty and few unbearable visuals. The film breaks the silence on one of the most serious crime ever done in the society but the punishment for it is not at all acceptable. Acting, writing, screenplay, background score, cinematography, dialogues and direction everything about this film is perfect. Overall, another mind-shattering Classic with uncompromised cinematic vision.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.