[Review] The Silent Forest: So What If They Heard?
The Silent Forest is the most emotionally heavy film I've seen in the cinema this year. Viewers might not shed tears while watching, but they will feel an indescribable sadness.
Films with sexual assault as their theme are certainly not uncommon, and the subject matter itself is very heavy. The Silent Forest's theme, in addition to sexual assault, also involves all the main characters being hearing impaired, making their situation even more complex. The film begins with a scene with the male protagonist, Chang Chen, allowing the audience to understand the inconveniences and grievances that hearing-impaired individuals experience in their daily lives: they cannot express themselves with ordinary language, and others struggle to understand their sign language, resulting in a breakdown of communication. When they have strong emotions, they try their best to express themselves, but others still don't understand or react very coldly, which might make them feel ignored and unable to vent their feelings. Later, Chang Chen attends a school for the deaf and interacts with others who share the same disabilities and experiences. Initially, he is filled with joy, but later he discovers some dark "secrets." The audience learns about these things from Chang Chen's perspective, and it's not difficult to understand his shock. However, Bei Bei, the victim, appears very calm, creating a strong contrast with Chang Chen's reaction and making the matter even more thought-provoking.
In typical teenage bullying incidents, Bei Bei's silence is actually very common: she wants to fit into the school group and doesn't want to be ostracized or excluded. But what Bei Bei experienced is more than just ordinary bullying, and I believe the audience, like Chang Chen, finds her reaction difficult to understand. Bei Bei points out that she has tried her best to tell the perpetrators that she is in pain and doesn't want to be treated this way, but they can't hear her and haven't stopped. In this story, the victims are hearing impaired; they may not be able to express their pain with sound and can only "scream silently." The perpetrators are also hearing impaired; they may not hear the victims' cries, but they should be able to see the victims' expressions and body language. However, the film's visuals at this point remind us that those who "cannot hear" are not just the perpetrators but also the teachers and principal who actually hold power in the school. They have normal hearing and, as educators, should be concerned about the students' treatment, but they seem to stand by and watch as such terrible things happen. The story here seems to try to explain their inaction from the perspective of the principal and others: these hearing-impaired students cannot receive equal treatment and care in ordinary schools, and the school for the deaf provides them with a better learning environment that better meets their needs. If this series of events is exposed, the students will lose this environment and return to the cruel reality. In short, this is a "lesser of two evils" argument; they feel their handling of the situation is for the students' well-being.
The story later demonstrates, through Chang Chen and Bei Bei's experiences returning to normal society, that the principal's thinking may not be entirely wrong. Hearing-impaired individuals do face a lot of unfair treatment, gazes, and pressure in normal society. They cannot communicate normally with others using language and cannot defend themselves when necessary, making them seem like an abnormal group. Perhaps the school for the deaf is truly their sanctuary? Do things improve when the two return to school? When teachers and principals with power do not face the problem squarely and address the root cause, how can the problem be solved? The problems continue to occur, and all the characters continue to be hurt. Victims who are powerless to change the situation may ask in their hearts: so what if others heard? Why do the same things keep happening? Teenagers who have nowhere to turn for help can only use their own methods to solve problems, trying to alleviate their own or others' pain, but ultimately they may suffer even greater harm. The film shifts towards the end to explore the story of one of the perpetrators, once again making the audience understand that the problem has always existed. When those in power ignore it and do not solve the root cause, the only ones who suffer are the vulnerable, and the consequences are endless. In this story, the students are in their formative years, and their self-awareness, behavior, and values all depend on their upbringing environment. Therefore, the inaction of teachers and principals truly harms their entire lives. In fact, the real world is full of such examples, and we may be witnessing them every day.
The film features hearing-impaired students as its protagonists and has little dialogue, yet it still manages to convey such a complex story through visuals, editing, and sound effects, which is enough to prove the director's skill. The film's story is very heavy, and the audience's emotions are likely to be deeply affected, which is really thanks to the excellent performances of all the actors. Although the film's main actors are very young and have almost no dialogue in the film, their performances are very powerful, and the audience can feel their pain and inner cries even in the "silence."
Trailer:
Synopsis:
A hearing-impaired boy transfers to a school for children with special needs. But his excitement about blending into a new environment immediately turns into fear when he witnesses the reality happening in the school.
Photo and Source: IMDb