Eye For Film >> Movies >> The Song Of The Dead Children (2008) Film Review
The Song Of The Dead Children
Reviewed by: Sarah Artt
![The Song Of The Dead Children](/images/newsite/cancion3_600.jpg)
Set on a remote beach, this long short is at times a harrowing account of brutality and recrimination. Several traumatised children mete out punishment to their elderly father for unimagined crimes in this meditation on grief, blame and consequences.
There is a stand-out performance from the actor playing the eldest son, Emilio, a thug shaped by tragedy and fear. It is difficult to surmise at times whether the gritty realism here is deliberate, or merely the landscape of an angry teenager's violent fantasies.
![Copy picture](/images/stills/s/song_of_the_dead_children_2008_1.jpg)
As tension between Emilio and his father continues to mount, the rivalry between the brothers is also played out in a series of confrontations. Magdalena, the only girl, retreats into silence as her body betrays her slow passage into womanhood and she is predictably a caring figure who consoles her youngest brother, who refuses to emerge from the wardrobe, where a mysterious silver chalice is kept. This chalice serves a perhaps surprising purpose in the film's conclusion.
Reviewed on: 20 Jun 2009