Note: This review isn't a true review, I'm just discussing about 2 movies and expressing my views because I wanted to let this out of my brain before it haunts me forever in the back of my mind :")

Originally I didn't want to write a review about this movie because I really just didn't know how to even start to pen down my thoughts. Watched this movie some years ago and I was so distraught after watching because I was so full of anger, pain and helplessness watching these characters fighting for the justice that they'd deserved, but end up being shortchanged.

What influenced me to write this review was that a few days ago, I watched a Taiwanese movie called 'The Silent Forest', or 《无声》, and I remember walking out of the cinema feeling the same sense of dread and hopelessness, a similar emotional trauma I received when I watched this movie years ago. Both movies are very similar in context, both of them have a theme of sexual abuse, of rape and the setting was also in a secluded school for the hearing impaired. Most importantly, both movies are inspired by real-life events that has happened before.

So naturally, I couldn't help but draw parallels between these 2 movies.

[Storyline and Perspectives: The Effects on the Audience]

'Silenced' is a movie that is really really good in its dramatization and storytelling. Props to the actors involved in this movie with such wonderful performances, really. 'Silenced' focused a lot on the experiences of our main character, In Ho (Gong Yoo). Here, we are viewing the story in In Ho's perspective. Hence, the emotions that we feel when we watch the movie is directly relatable to the experiences that In Ho has: arriving at a new city, a new school to teach, struggling to get closer to the students, finding out about the horrors that is going on in the school, facing a dilemma between securing his place in the school versus protecting the children, choosing to protect and fight for the children, and ultimately getting hit by the harsh reality and injustice that is prevalent in society. Whenever In Ho feels horrified, anguished or broken, we feel those emotions too as an audience. However, pertaining to the main problem in the movie, the sexual abuse, the perspective that In Ho provides the audience is that of a third person POV. As much as the problem is a serious one, In Ho is ultimately just a bystander, and to a certain sense, a witness, to this problem.

In contrast, 'The Silent Forest' is a movie that follows the experiences of a student enrolling into the school. This is where the impact on the audience is intensified, as we are no longer looking through the lens of a bystander, a witness. We are brought directly into the situation itself, as our main character Zhang Cheng (Troy Liu Tzu-chuan) gets entangled in a systemic problem of sexual abuse between the students themselves. This brings much more emotional impact on the audience, as we get to 'experience' first hand the horrors of the sexual abuse that is prevalent within the school. I remember the feeling of helplessness I felt was so immense and I was just gripping fistfuls of my hair because I was just so infuriated but there was nothing I could do about that situation. In 'The Silent Forest', the audience has taken a first person POV in the issue, but is also designated the role of being a witness of this matter as well. Because the movie didn't explore much about Mr Wang (Liu Kuan-ting), this movie's equivalent of In Ho in 'Silenced', we as the audience are forced to take on this position as a witness to the horrors as well. The movie was done really well in this aspect.

[Justice]

'Silenced' was done well in the sense that it really showcased the legal struggle that the children faced against the school principals. The movie made the viewers, especially the Korean public, know more about how the country's laws are set and how such laws can be disadvantageous to a certain disadvantaged group of people who are vulnerable and powerless. This was why after the movie was released, there was a public uproar about the laws involving sexual abuse towards minors, and that subsequently after that, the bill was revised by the South Korean Government. This movie called upon the public to look at the ugly side of society, the flaws in the justice system.

'The Silent Forest' did not showcase anything pertaining to legal affairs related to sexual abuse. There was a mention of media involved in the process, but that wasn't explored much upon, and I could understand that that wasn't the main point of the movie. The main point of the movie wasn't to point out the flaws in society, in the country's legal system. It implored viewers to look at humans' vulnerable and ugly sides which had eventually influenced them to do the horrible things they do.

In both movies, I wouldn't say justice was rightfully served, but there was a sense of reconciliation: reconciliation between one's past and present, and finding peace within oneself. There was a hopeful message of moving on and leaving the dark past behind among the characters in both movies. And I liked it.

[Villains]

In 'Silenced', there was a clear emphasis on who are the villains, the antagonists. There was a clear target that the characters as well as the viewers can direct their anger and resentment towards. There is a conventional 'fight' between the good and the bad. However, when I watched 'The Silent Forest', what I realized about why I felt so helpless and broken after the movie was really because there was no 'true' villain. What happens when bullies become bullies because they were emotionally and physically traumatized as a victim themselves in the past? What happens when we see that the main 'villain' has his vulnerability and redeeming qualities as well? This is where I as a viewer, felt sympathy for the anti-villain in this movie. That left me so torn and broken I don't know what I'll do if I were to be placed in the situation itself...

My conclusion is: both movies are exceptional in their delivery and performances. Rather than deciding which is better than the other, I would like to think that these 2 movies complement each other really well, as they tackle different aspects pertaining to a similar issue, and shows us the different perspectives there is to see to such an issue. Even though these movies are such a heavy watch, as they are really emotionally draining, I can see myself coming back and re-watching these 2 movies again from time to time, as a reality check for myself that sometimes, the world isn't as peaceful as it seems, and sometimes we really have to be more observant about our surroundings.