Right Wing Military Coup in Honduras. See "Innocent Voices" DVD is a Gripping, Cry Out, Beautifully Acted Against a Grim Background of Civilian Loss A
BuzzFlash.com's Review
Given the weekend coup in Honduras, it is vital that we remember the historial role of the United States and the infamous School of Americas in making Central America our killing fields, when we trained the military "leaders" of the dictatorships how to torture and kill civilians and "rebel armies," along with their "civilian militias."
This was a special passion of Elliot Abrams, Oliver North, John Negroponte and others for this sort of murder.
We don't know yet if the Obama Administration had a role in this most recent coup in Honduras of a democratically elected president, but it is curious that they exiled the legitimate President instead of shooting him -- which is the usual method of getting rid of "liberal" South and Central American leaders. It's almost like Obama saying, "Well it's okay to overthrow him, but don't kill him."
Of couse, we are speculating. There is no way that we could know whether Obama approved this or not. The CIA also has a history of launching these coups on their own, or it could possibly just be a coup orchestrated on their own by Honduran militry leaders trained by the U.S. at the School of the Americas (they renamed it, but we will still call it the School of the Americas.)
****
All that said, "Innocent Voices" is a profoundly moving tragedy that takes place in El Salvador (except for Costa Rica -- name a Central American country and its the same history of American-sponsored military interventism.")
A courageous, loving mother uses all her wits to save her son from the encroaching forced enrollment of 12-year-old males by the military.
AS a commentator noted about the film:
""Innocent Voices" never feels false, the setttings, characters and situations are completely authentic. El Salvador's beautiful Central American scenery is brilliantly captured as well as the cold reality of what the civil war was like. Reagan fans may scoff or dismiss the scenes of utter brutality by the U.S.-trained Salvadoran soldiers, but this is all well-documented, in fact, this is an important film to watch in the era of Iraq, as once again we are arming and funding different sides and trying to crush insurgencies in a complex region with little regard for the human cost. The use of child soldiers here strikes a general chord, as we know this is still happening all around the world today. "Innocent Voices" doesn't tell a story that happened, it tells a story that is still happening in many places right now. Mandoki also does a nice job in showing the kind of immigration that took place from Central America to the U.S. during this time, reminding the viewer that the immigrants crossing over are not lawbreakers trying to make it easy in America, many of these people have stories like Chava behind them, leaving your home is not an easy decision to make.
The film's performances are sharp and wonderful, the story is filled with numerous characters that stay in the memory and moments of drama that stir and move. Mandoki manages to explore the politics of the story without really making the film political, he doesn't have to resort to big slogans or preaching, he simply tells his story and lets the setting and situations display what was happening. There is almost a Dantenean quality to the way we see this small boy, Chava, trying to live a decent life surrounded by horror and death at a time when you were likely to find bodies floating in the nearby river, executed by soldiers. Mandoki beautifully contrasts the scenery with the carnage. Like Oliver Stone's "Platoon," the war scenes between soldiers and guerrillas are well-crafted but never "fun," the violence feels raw and not like some video game exercise. With intelligent editing, Mandoki creates an atmosphere of dread during the violence, capturing the confusion and sheer terror of being caught in the middle of a firefight with bullets flying by over your head and loved ones gone missing as bombs explode.
"Innocent Voices" is one of those rare, small films that you probably didn't know about because the studio didn't blast your senses with endless advertising or hype but it is more haunting, powerful and memorable than most of the big films playing in over 2,000 screens. It tells a story Americans have largely forgotten and don't realize just how involved in it they were. Sometimes we need directors like Mandoki to shine a light on those corners of the world we tend to ignore, yet don't realize the immense connections they have to our history and foreign policy. And aside from historical importance, this is simply a great human drama, a moving story that could affect anyone anywhere, as any good film should. "Innocent Voices" is worth picking up."
The more things change; the more they stay the same in Central America -- and the United States has a big bloody hand directing the course of the action. If the current administration is not invovled in this coup, we want proof and the restoration of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.
For progressive premiums, gifts, economic justice goods, fair trade items, eco-change products, and more, go to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
This was a special passion of Elliot Abrams, Oliver North, John Negroponte and others for this sort of murder.
We don't know yet if the Obama Administration had a role in this most recent coup in Honduras of a democratically elected president, but it is curious that they exiled the legitimate President instead of shooting him -- which is the usual method of getting rid of "liberal" South and Central American leaders. It's almost like Obama saying, "Well it's okay to overthrow him, but don't kill him."
Of couse, we are speculating. There is no way that we could know whether Obama approved this or not. The CIA also has a history of launching these coups on their own, or it could possibly just be a coup orchestrated on their own by Honduran militry leaders trained by the U.S. at the School of the Americas (they renamed it, but we will still call it the School of the Americas.)
****
All that said, "Innocent Voices" is a profoundly moving tragedy that takes place in El Salvador (except for Costa Rica -- name a Central American country and its the same history of American-sponsored military interventism.")
A courageous, loving mother uses all her wits to save her son from the encroaching forced enrollment of 12-year-old males by the military.
AS a commentator noted about the film:
""Innocent Voices" never feels false, the setttings, characters and situations are completely authentic. El Salvador's beautiful Central American scenery is brilliantly captured as well as the cold reality of what the civil war was like. Reagan fans may scoff or dismiss the scenes of utter brutality by the U.S.-trained Salvadoran soldiers, but this is all well-documented, in fact, this is an important film to watch in the era of Iraq, as once again we are arming and funding different sides and trying to crush insurgencies in a complex region with little regard for the human cost. The use of child soldiers here strikes a general chord, as we know this is still happening all around the world today. "Innocent Voices" doesn't tell a story that happened, it tells a story that is still happening in many places right now. Mandoki also does a nice job in showing the kind of immigration that took place from Central America to the U.S. during this time, reminding the viewer that the immigrants crossing over are not lawbreakers trying to make it easy in America, many of these people have stories like Chava behind them, leaving your home is not an easy decision to make.
The film's performances are sharp and wonderful, the story is filled with numerous characters that stay in the memory and moments of drama that stir and move. Mandoki manages to explore the politics of the story without really making the film political, he doesn't have to resort to big slogans or preaching, he simply tells his story and lets the setting and situations display what was happening. There is almost a Dantenean quality to the way we see this small boy, Chava, trying to live a decent life surrounded by horror and death at a time when you were likely to find bodies floating in the nearby river, executed by soldiers. Mandoki beautifully contrasts the scenery with the carnage. Like Oliver Stone's "Platoon," the war scenes between soldiers and guerrillas are well-crafted but never "fun," the violence feels raw and not like some video game exercise. With intelligent editing, Mandoki creates an atmosphere of dread during the violence, capturing the confusion and sheer terror of being caught in the middle of a firefight with bullets flying by over your head and loved ones gone missing as bombs explode.
"Innocent Voices" is one of those rare, small films that you probably didn't know about because the studio didn't blast your senses with endless advertising or hype but it is more haunting, powerful and memorable than most of the big films playing in over 2,000 screens. It tells a story Americans have largely forgotten and don't realize just how involved in it they were. Sometimes we need directors like Mandoki to shine a light on those corners of the world we tend to ignore, yet don't realize the immense connections they have to our history and foreign policy. And aside from historical importance, this is simply a great human drama, a moving story that could affect anyone anywhere, as any good film should. "Innocent Voices" is worth picking up."
The more things change; the more they stay the same in Central America -- and the United States has a big bloody hand directing the course of the action. If the current administration is not invovled in this coup, we want proof and the restoration of President Manuel Zelaya in Honduras.
For progressive premiums, gifts, economic justice goods, fair trade items, eco-change products, and more, go to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
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