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Song Without a Name (2020)

Song Without a Name (2020)

7.2

A young mother searches for her child in this somber period drama of a case left unsolved

Movie

Chile, Peru
Quechua, Spanish
Drama
2020
imdb
rt
wiki

TLDR

As per writing, it’s nearly half a century since the real case. It’s heartbreaking to think about it.

What it's about

Peru, 1988. After losing her newborn daughter at a fake health clinic, indigenous mother Georgina seeks help from lonely journalist Pedro Campos, who works for a major newspaper.

The take

At times of political strife, how can one seek justice? Song Without a Name could have presented its case in a straightforward biopic. Inspired by her journalist father’s story, writer-director Melina León  could have presented a hard-hitting docudrama that celebrated the smart journalists who brought the traffickers to justice. However, León doesn’t do that. She focuses instead on Georgina, the indigenous mother who lost her child. Her journey is beautifully shot in vignetted black-and-white, but the images and the lullabies she sings are striking, haunting reminders of what was lost, even as the traffickers get imprisoned. Song Without a Name remembers how this injustice was only half resolved.

What stands out

The approach. Some viewers won’t appreciate the slow, meditative way the film captures this topic, but the film achieves what it sets out to do, which is to remember the grief of the children still missing.

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