Also known as ‘The shape of voice’. Not recommended under 14, due to scenes likely to scare younger viewers and themes, particularly that of suicide. The film is in Japanese with subtitles so may be difficult for younger viewers to follow
This topic contains:
Children under 14 | Not recommended due to scenes likely to scare younger viewers and themes, particularly that of suicide. The film is in Japanese with subtitles so may be difficult for younger viewers to follow |
Children aged 14 | Parental guidance due to themes |
Viewers aged 15 and over | OK for this age group, but with issues that parents may wish to discuss |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | A Silent Voice |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes |
Length: | 130 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
A silent voice is a subtitled animated Japanese film by Yamada Naoko focusing on the relationship between two school students, Shoya Ishida (Miyu Irino) and Shoko Nishimiya (Saori Hayami). When Shoko starts as a new student in an established class, delinquent Shoya begins to tease her as a result of her deafness. However, when he transfers to Junior High, his previous friends turn against him and Shoya finds himself isolated and lonely. He begins to become preoccupied with guilt over his past actions towards Shoko, and frequently thinks of how he could repent for his transgressions against her.
One day, he reunites with Shoko and the two become tentative friends. In an effort to help bring happiness to her life, Shoya sets out to reconnect Shoko with the other students from elementary school whom she never had a chance to know
The two gradually begin to develop strong feelings for one another, although Shoko still experiences feelings of hopelessness that eventually lead her to attempt suicide. When Shoya tries to stop her, he puts his own life in jeopardy and the two must both come to terms with their actions.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Relationships; disability; bullying; forgiveness; suicide
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence within the film, including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
Children in this age group may be scared by the above-mentioned scenes. They are also likely to be unable to understand the film which is in Japanese with subtitles
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children in this age group are also likely to find the film hard to follow because of subtitling. They may also be upset by the above-mentioned scenes and the idea of suicide.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the idea of suicide and attempted suicide of a leading character. They may also find the death of the grandmother and scenes of her funeral disturbing.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by the suicide discussion and attempt in the film
Nothing of concern
There are some sexual references, including:
There is partial nudity in the film, including:
Nothing of concern
There is some coarse language in the film, including:
A silent voice (also known as The shape of voice) is a moving animated film about teenagers that tackles a range of individual and interpersonal issues. The film explores the nature of friendship and examines the idea that friendship is not something that is founded upon logic and reason, but rather, connection and vulnerability. It deals with important themes such as bullying, suicide and atonement and is therefore not recommended for children under 14. Parents may wish to discuss the issues raised with older teens.
The film is in Japanese with subtitles, so is likely to be hard to follow for younger children.
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