Breach in the Silence.
Poverty has rarely looked as visually alluring as in this crisply shot drama about a 19-year-old deaf-mute woman who takes steps to save her two siblings from parental abuse. Kudos to Antonio Garcia for his stunning cinematography, which generates imagery in urban slums and out in rural Venezuela that is so sharp it can cut as former social workers Andres and Luis Rodriguez tell their inconsistently engaging story. The pictures are pretty, and the performances earnest and sincere, but there's a lack of suspense or engaging characters to balance things out.
At VIFF: Oct. 4, 4:15 pm Cinematheque; Oct. 6, 9 pm SFU; Oct. 8, 4:45 pm, Vancity
Ian Bailey