Sound of Freedom2023

the (second?) most controversial film of the year (perhaps Barbie is the first) only received all this attention because it is controversial. Because in terms of quality, the film is average to bad. I'm thinking about giving the film a second chance, because my experience of watching it at the premiere, with the film dubbed, in a room full of people who probably go to the cinema once a year, was certainly not ideal. The guy sitting behind me said a lot of “woah!” and “wow!”. At one point he even said “amen” and he probably wasn’t the only one. Even with such a heavy topic on screen, I couldn't stop laughing. If you research what people are saying about the film, you’ll realize the most praised aspect of it is its theme: child tr*fficking. A very important topic that the film will certainly help bring to light. But does the theme itself make a good film? Sound of Freedom proves again that this is not the case. I only managed to find one aesthetically interesting scene (I think it's cool how they film a door in the dark at the beginning). The film has a slow and repetitive pace at the beginning that I don't think is justified. And the narrative of the individualistic American hero (which even changes the real story a little from what I've heard) that I'm already tired of in Marvel films gets even worse when it applies to a theme as important as this. The film focuses entirely on the protagonist's vision. I also don't know if it's fair to do what I avoid doing with Marvel films and judge the credits scene, which here is a “call to action” for the viewer to get involved in the cause. But would it be donating to some kind of organization? No. The QR code in the credits is for you to buy more tickets to the movie. A film is not a text. A film is more than the subject it covers. This only got this much attention because it became a tool in the “culture war” silliness.