IMDb RATING
7.8/10
8.5K
YOUR RATING
A young boy, in an effort to have a normal childhood in 1980's El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life as he desperately tries to avoid the war which is raging all around ... Read allA young boy, in an effort to have a normal childhood in 1980's El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life as he desperately tries to avoid the war which is raging all around him.A young boy, in an effort to have a normal childhood in 1980's El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life as he desperately tries to avoid the war which is raging all around him.
- Awards
- 13 wins & 10 nominations total
Alejandro Felipe
- Ricardito
- (as Alejandro Felipe Flores)
Ana Paulina Caceres
- Rosita
- (as Ana Paulina Cáceres)
Paulina Gaitan
- Angelita
- (as Paulina Gaytan Ruíz)
Alan Chávez
- Antonio
- (as Alan Andreé)
Featured reviews
I watched it on the release week in El Salvador on December 26th 2004. It was the first country in which the movie was shown commercially. What can I say? ALMOST NO WORDS, but WONDERFUL.
I am thirty years old now and by that time I was a kid just like CHAVA. I personally had to flee from El Salvador's Army forced recruitment a couple of times, so the movie was a flashback for me. I cried remembering those nights when bullets were flying over my house.
WAR is a crime no matter what the objective is and specially if innocence is stolen from children.
The movie travels through every place in which children are forced to take a weapon in their innocent hands: Africa, Middle-East, Asia, Colombia, etc; or to every place in which children suffer the consequences of war.
For those who has not lived a war by themselves and enjoy watching the news about IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, ISRAEL, COLOMBIA it is time to think about what you can do in order to stop this human massacre in the name of "freedom" .
I am thirty years old now and by that time I was a kid just like CHAVA. I personally had to flee from El Salvador's Army forced recruitment a couple of times, so the movie was a flashback for me. I cried remembering those nights when bullets were flying over my house.
WAR is a crime no matter what the objective is and specially if innocence is stolen from children.
The movie travels through every place in which children are forced to take a weapon in their innocent hands: Africa, Middle-East, Asia, Colombia, etc; or to every place in which children suffer the consequences of war.
For those who has not lived a war by themselves and enjoy watching the news about IRAQ, AFGHANISTAN, ISRAEL, COLOMBIA it is time to think about what you can do in order to stop this human massacre in the name of "freedom" .
I have just seen the movie here in El Salvador, where I am on vacation. My parents are both Salvadoran, and I have visited here many times, as well as resided here for several years. I remember visiting during war time, seeing soldiers with their guns, though i was a very young child unaware of the true situation.
This movie brought to light the horrible scenes and awful truths of the atrocities that occurred during the war, and that still happen in warfare today. Looking through the eyes of an eleven-year-old child in fear of recruitment, you are brought straight into the war and his life. Everyone in the audience had heard good things about the movie, and in turn agreed; we applauded when the movie was over. There is humor, romance, and of course, tragedy. Some parts were almost unbearable to watch, but then the movie is portraying a reality that we should not and cannot ignore.
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, and I hope they will soon bring it to the U.S. and abroad.
This movie brought to light the horrible scenes and awful truths of the atrocities that occurred during the war, and that still happen in warfare today. Looking through the eyes of an eleven-year-old child in fear of recruitment, you are brought straight into the war and his life. Everyone in the audience had heard good things about the movie, and in turn agreed; we applauded when the movie was over. There is humor, romance, and of course, tragedy. Some parts were almost unbearable to watch, but then the movie is portraying a reality that we should not and cannot ignore.
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone and everyone, and I hope they will soon bring it to the U.S. and abroad.
I'm from El Salvador and went to see the movie yesterday with my wife. First, it's unbelievable that the government allowed this film to be presented in the country. Usually they forbid the showings of any movie that touches the topic of the war because they want to erase the memories of war to present the image of a new country, but without learning from the mistakes of our past.
Second, I've seen a couple of movies about El Salvador (Oliver Stone's Salvador and Romero) and I gotta say that this movie is the most accurate depiction of the environment of wartime in El Salvador. The forceful recruitment depicted in the movie was an everyday ordeal for most families of humble status, with the army stopping the bus and taking all young men to the barracks.
Second, I've seen a couple of movies about El Salvador (Oliver Stone's Salvador and Romero) and I gotta say that this movie is the most accurate depiction of the environment of wartime in El Salvador. The forceful recruitment depicted in the movie was an everyday ordeal for most families of humble status, with the army stopping the bus and taking all young men to the barracks.
10oidiaz
I saw this film in El Salvador, while I was on vacation visiting relatives. It is a very good film. Somehow, I'd hoped that it would be this good. I have seen previous films about El Salvador, from "Salvador" by Oliver Stone to "Romero", but none of those films come close to portraying how this civil war affected thousands of civilians. The film depicts the story of Chava, an 11 year-old boy, whose main concern is that as soon as he turns 12 he will be recruited by the Military to fight the Guerillas. Through his eyes, we see the atrocities that are brought upon his family,friends and his own life. Though it is set in El Salvador, this could be a story from anywhere around the world, where a Civil War breaks out and the effects on its own people.
The characters are well written; the plot well told and the actors, especially, the kid playing Chava are very good. It is void of any clichés as many films when dealing with delicate subjects such as a civil war. You can see that these are real people going through a great ordeal, unlike "Salvador" or even "Romero" whose characters and plots were obviously made up based on facts read on news papers. I highly recommend this film to everyone who wants to see the reality of war and its consequences on the lives of innocent people.
The characters are well written; the plot well told and the actors, especially, the kid playing Chava are very good. It is void of any clichés as many films when dealing with delicate subjects such as a civil war. You can see that these are real people going through a great ordeal, unlike "Salvador" or even "Romero" whose characters and plots were obviously made up based on facts read on news papers. I highly recommend this film to everyone who wants to see the reality of war and its consequences on the lives of innocent people.
10aserikov
This movie was incredible in many ways, not the least of which was how it depicted life in a war in such a matter-of-fact manner. People leaving the theater where I saw it were in tears, many of them. The fact that the story is not fiction, and the fact that many just like it happen all over the world even today, made it so much more powerful. The best and the worst of the human being were depicted and it made me wonder how is it that one often brings out the other in us. I found myself sitting with clinched fists, full of rage and anger, anger at what I was seeing, anger at my own impotence as a spectator not being able to interfere... I wish viewing movies like this was mandatory for Congress before they ever authorize another war. This movie certainly stirred up a lot of emotion, but most of all it made me feel grateful for the childhood that I had.
Did you know
- TriviaÓscar Torres, the man on whom the story is based, was on set for most of the shoot. He was often seen crying between takes off set, saying the shots brought back painful memories.
- GoofsThe candles on Chava's birthday cake form an arc of 270 degrees (3/4 of a circle) in a close up and then they are shown placed in a complete circle in subsequent wide shots.
- SoundtracksLa jícara
Written by René Márquez Rojo
Performed by Orquesta Internacional Hermanos Flores
Courtesy of Orquesta Internacional Hermanos Flores
- How long is Innocent Voices?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- 純真11歲
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $837,878
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $192,055
- Oct 16, 2005
- Gross worldwide
- $7,048,103
- Runtime2 hours
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
