Silenced is a movie based on the events happened in one of the Korean schools in 2005. This film released in 2011 presents the problems which may exist in any society where corruption, influence of particular people, ill vision of the life and absence of the strong and legal regulatory bodies create terrible conditions that lead to the more terrifying outcomes.
The problems raised in the movie are social and should bother the whole society as being based on the realistic events, it means that there may be many places where disabled children are treated in the same cruel way. Silenced is a movie that dwells upon the physical and sexual abuse of children who attend special school for disabled children.
The problem is really important and impressive as children are not protected due to their social status and disabled children who are unable to tell about their problems, who are afraid of telling adults about abuse as they fear physical or sexual punishment.
Trauma as one of the particular aspects of the movie should also be considered as those children who are abused in childhood are unable to perceive this world adequately.
Their vision of the reality is changed and there are no guarantees that such children will grow up deserving members of the society as the traumas they get influence their perception of the modern world, people and events (Levine and Kline “Trauma’s scope – sources ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary” 18).
Children abuse is considered as a great problem, however, trauma based on the physical and sexual abuse is rarely treated, however, this is one of the most important aspects doctors should pay attention to while treating children (Levine and Kline “What is trauma?” 3).
Silenced is about sexual and physical abuse of disabled children who are not protected at all, about trauma they get and the attempts of one person to solve the problem, but illegal society, corruption and careless attitude of others do not give him an opportunity to complete the task effectively and at once.
The movie starts with the period when Gang In-ho is on his way to a school for hearing-impaired children in Gwangju. At his first day, he faces the problem, as to take a position he is to pay. Then, he sees more terrible things.
Children at school are abused, he observes how a teacher severely beats a student, then he hears cries but others say to him that this is a norm for disabled children.
Finally, he gets to know the truth, but the problem is that no one wants to deal with this case as the main abuser is a school director who is a respected person in a city and who has much influence in the place.
Therefore, Gang In-ho appears in a terrible situation, on the one hand, he cannot look at violence and illegal abuse which takes place at school, on the other hand, he needs money to pay for the operation of his daughter.
The situation is complicated by the fact that to pay for the position Gang In-ho had to mortgage a house. In-ho teams up with human rights activist Seo Yu-jin, but their attempts seem to be wasted in vain.
The play of the actors does not impress, frankly speaking. Most of the emotions and reactions are based on the human mercy in relation to abused children.
Gang In-ho seems to be the most emotionless person in the whole movie, the director of the school and the vise director also do not express any emotions on their faces, just the attitude to children, the actions these people do and the words they say to children make the audience understand their feelings and emotions.
Additionally, the film is in grey color that adds to the perception of the reality. It is impossible to say that it is either an advantage or disadvantage, it just supports the movie tone and makes the perception of the film deeper.
Sochi’s review is mostly based on the movie plot not on the personal perception that makes the film view procedure more subjective without influence of objective opinion from the side.
The movie does not carry any entertaining features. Being initially a social creation, it makes people think about the problems which exist in this world. In most cases people do not notice what happens in the surrounding world, or do not want to notice, but Silenced is the movie which must be seen.
People should see how those who have the power to influence the city authorities have an opportunity to do whatever they like as they are sure that the whole city including police and church community try to cover the truth. I was really impressed with the movie.
There were the places which I could not watch due to the cruelty. Even though the play of the actors is rather primitive in some cases, I suppose that it adds to the realistic tone which must be present in this movie to make others think about global social problems.
Works Cited
Levine, Peter A. and Maggie Kline. “Trauma’s scope – sources ranging from the ordinary to the extraordinary.” Trauma through a Child’s Eyes. Beckley: North Atlantic Books, 2007. Print.
Levine, Peter A. and Maggie Kline. “What is trauma? A working definition.” Trauma through a Child’s Eyes. North Atlantic: Bodes Beckley, 2007. Print.
Silenced. Dir. Dong Hyeuk Hwang. South Korea, 2011. DVD.
Sochi, Stanislav S. “Do-ga-ni.” IMDb. 2011. Web.