I repeat it. A good movie only needs three ingredients: a good script, a good script, and a good script. The rest responds to the personal gaze of the director and his technical team.
The Korean film “Silenced” (2011) is brutal. Its validity is not in doubt. It deals with the sexual abuse of disabled minors.
The director, Hwang Dong-hyuk, has put together a story, supported by unforgettable performances, such as that of his protagonist, Gong Yoo, who we have already applauded in films such as “Train to Busan” and the television series “The Squid Game”.
Koreans bet on a cinema with stories of impact, well written, always supported by an angular camera, a precise set design and a perfect soundtrack.
“Silenced” proposes an impactful social denunciation, inspired by the novel by the writer Jee-young Cong.
The difference between the literary work and the staging is the smell of cinema, the synthesis of a story filmed in a linear way, where the acting balance and the images enshrine a cultural discourse.
There are no imbalances, no whining, no Hollywood-style happy endings. The characters display an accomplished maturity in front of a camera that knows how to distinguish both moments of tension and the struggle for power.
The film does not aspire to rewards. The director follows the line of Korean cinema dedicated to denouncing the imbalance of a peninsular society that struggles to preserve its model of social democracy against the purchase of consciences.
“Silenced” is one of those impossible to forget tapes. It’s on Netflix.
Data sheet.
Country: South Korea. Year: 2011. Duration: 125 minutes. Director and script: Hwang Dong-hyuk (Novel: Jee-young Cong). Cast: Gong Yoo, Jeong Yu-mi, Kim Hyeon-soo, Kim Ji-yeong, Jeong In-seo, Baek Seung-Hwan, Hye-jin Park. Synopsis: A professor who has just arrived at a school for the deaf and dumb in Mujin discovers that minors are sexually abused by the center’s staff. He, together with a human rights activist, will try to publicize the facts and bring the guilty to justice.
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