A Silent Voice
3.5/4
Starring (voices): Robbie Daymond, Lexi Cowden, Kristen Sullivan, Graham Halstead, Kira Buckland
Not Rated (probably PG-13 for Strong Thematic Material involving Bullying and Emotional Abuse, and for Brief Language)
The emotional impact of "A Silent Voice" is at times so strong that it elicits a physical response. We don't just understand what the characters are going through. We feel it ourselves. Few movies achieve that level of success. Most are too coy or too overboard. Others simply lack the courage. That's not the case for Naoko Yamada, whose frank depiction of bullying and the scars it leaves is uncompromising. There isn't a lot of physical violence in this movie (a couple of the characters get slapped, for example). But on an emotional level, it hits you in the gut. This is not a movie that Disney would ever touch.
Shoya (Daymond) is preparing to die. He has spent the last few months settling his affairs and making amends to a girl named Shoko (Cowden), with whom he shares a painful past. At the last moment, he decides not to jump off a bridge, and instead deal with the mistakes he made as a kid. But it isn't as easy as saying you're sorry. Earning forgiveness is a long and difficult process especially when the person you hate the most is yourself.
Shoya was a normal kid when he was younger. He had friends, a steady home life, and so on. That changed when Shoko came into his class. She's pretty and friendly, but she's also deaf. Shoko relies on a notebook to communicate. Of course at that age being so different makes a person a target, and that is certainly true of Shoko. Shoya and his friends mercilessly torment her, but when they're caught, Shoya's friends turn on him and finger him as the sole instigator. He is forced to take the fall and eventually becomes the subject of abuse himself. Of course that only makes his actions towards Shoko more hostile. It gets so bad that after just a few months Shoko is transferred to another school. Shoya spends years ostracized from his friends and riddled with guilt. But he's determined to make amends, and that means confronting Shoko and his old friends.
The opening 20 minutes are as painful as any movie I've seen that deals with bullying. Not even "In the Company of Men" was this savage. The scenes of bullying are so real, the words are so on target, and the emotions are so raw that I found myself wincing at the viciousness directed at the vulnerable Shoko. These scenes work because nothing is overplayed. Everyone has seen kids talk and act like they do in this movie, and that's what makes it so uncomfortable. In fact, one might argue that the scenes are too brutal or too long, but the fact is that they're just too real. As difficult to watch as they are, they form the foundation for the rest of the story.
Perhaps ironically, the one who bears the deepest scars is Shoya himself. In addition to being cruel to someone who showed him nothing but kindness, he was betrayed by his friends and ostracized by everyone else. He hates himself so much that he can't look anyone in the eye. Only the class dork, Nagatsuka (Halstead), wants to hang out with him. The prospect of seeking redemption from Shoko is both hopeful and terrifying, not least because her sister Yuzuru (Sullivan) immediately sizes him up and calls him out on it. But Shoko has hidden depths that may offer more than he expects.
"A Silent Voice" is not a perfect movie. The film is too short; character moments that should support the big moments are missing, which robs them of their power and results in a narrative that is at times choppy. Yamada also puts a big purple X on the faces of people Shoko can't bear to look at (which fall off when he trusts them again), and it's as gimmicky as it sounds. The English dub is perfectly serviceable, but not what you'd call spectacular. And the animation is on the low end. No one is going to mistake this for a Studio Ghibli release. The biggest flaws occur when the film strays from its central theme. Some scenes feel less like a rumination on guilt and more like a teen soap opera.
Yet its flaws are not what stick out in my mind. The characters and the rawness of their emotions are. These people feel real, and the feelings that they generate jump off the screen. It isn't an easy movie to watch, but that's because of the amount of empathy Yamada generates for Shoya, Shoko, and the others. They linger in the mind, and I doubt I will forget them soon.
"A Silent Voice" has taken a long time to make it to the U.S. Although it was made in Japan in 2016, it's only received extremely limited showings here, and has just recently been made available on Blu Ray. I've been waiting to see it ever since I read James Berardinelli's review a year or so ago, but believe me, the wait is worth it. I may have to cheat, but I am certain that this will end up on my Top 10 list this year.
Starring (voices): Robbie Daymond, Lexi Cowden, Kristen Sullivan, Graham Halstead, Kira Buckland
Not Rated (probably PG-13 for Strong Thematic Material involving Bullying and Emotional Abuse, and for Brief Language)
The emotional impact of "A Silent Voice" is at times so strong that it elicits a physical response. We don't just understand what the characters are going through. We feel it ourselves. Few movies achieve that level of success. Most are too coy or too overboard. Others simply lack the courage. That's not the case for Naoko Yamada, whose frank depiction of bullying and the scars it leaves is uncompromising. There isn't a lot of physical violence in this movie (a couple of the characters get slapped, for example). But on an emotional level, it hits you in the gut. This is not a movie that Disney would ever touch.
Shoya (Daymond) is preparing to die. He has spent the last few months settling his affairs and making amends to a girl named Shoko (Cowden), with whom he shares a painful past. At the last moment, he decides not to jump off a bridge, and instead deal with the mistakes he made as a kid. But it isn't as easy as saying you're sorry. Earning forgiveness is a long and difficult process especially when the person you hate the most is yourself.
Shoya was a normal kid when he was younger. He had friends, a steady home life, and so on. That changed when Shoko came into his class. She's pretty and friendly, but she's also deaf. Shoko relies on a notebook to communicate. Of course at that age being so different makes a person a target, and that is certainly true of Shoko. Shoya and his friends mercilessly torment her, but when they're caught, Shoya's friends turn on him and finger him as the sole instigator. He is forced to take the fall and eventually becomes the subject of abuse himself. Of course that only makes his actions towards Shoko more hostile. It gets so bad that after just a few months Shoko is transferred to another school. Shoya spends years ostracized from his friends and riddled with guilt. But he's determined to make amends, and that means confronting Shoko and his old friends.
The opening 20 minutes are as painful as any movie I've seen that deals with bullying. Not even "In the Company of Men" was this savage. The scenes of bullying are so real, the words are so on target, and the emotions are so raw that I found myself wincing at the viciousness directed at the vulnerable Shoko. These scenes work because nothing is overplayed. Everyone has seen kids talk and act like they do in this movie, and that's what makes it so uncomfortable. In fact, one might argue that the scenes are too brutal or too long, but the fact is that they're just too real. As difficult to watch as they are, they form the foundation for the rest of the story.
Perhaps ironically, the one who bears the deepest scars is Shoya himself. In addition to being cruel to someone who showed him nothing but kindness, he was betrayed by his friends and ostracized by everyone else. He hates himself so much that he can't look anyone in the eye. Only the class dork, Nagatsuka (Halstead), wants to hang out with him. The prospect of seeking redemption from Shoko is both hopeful and terrifying, not least because her sister Yuzuru (Sullivan) immediately sizes him up and calls him out on it. But Shoko has hidden depths that may offer more than he expects.
"A Silent Voice" is not a perfect movie. The film is too short; character moments that should support the big moments are missing, which robs them of their power and results in a narrative that is at times choppy. Yamada also puts a big purple X on the faces of people Shoko can't bear to look at (which fall off when he trusts them again), and it's as gimmicky as it sounds. The English dub is perfectly serviceable, but not what you'd call spectacular. And the animation is on the low end. No one is going to mistake this for a Studio Ghibli release. The biggest flaws occur when the film strays from its central theme. Some scenes feel less like a rumination on guilt and more like a teen soap opera.
Yet its flaws are not what stick out in my mind. The characters and the rawness of their emotions are. These people feel real, and the feelings that they generate jump off the screen. It isn't an easy movie to watch, but that's because of the amount of empathy Yamada generates for Shoya, Shoko, and the others. They linger in the mind, and I doubt I will forget them soon.
"A Silent Voice" has taken a long time to make it to the U.S. Although it was made in Japan in 2016, it's only received extremely limited showings here, and has just recently been made available on Blu Ray. I've been waiting to see it ever since I read James Berardinelli's review a year or so ago, but believe me, the wait is worth it. I may have to cheat, but I am certain that this will end up on my Top 10 list this year.
your reviews would be a lot better with pictures or videos or something.
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