The Sound Of Freedom | Unariun Wisdom

Oct
4thThe Sound Of Freedom

by Ian Kane

Sound of Freedom, based on the incredible true story, shines a light on even the darkest of places. After rescuing a young boy from ruthless child traffickers, a federal agent learns the boy’s sister is still captive and decides to embark on a dangerous mission to save her. With time running out, he quits his job and journeys deep into the Colombian jungle, putting his life on the line to free her from a fate worse than death.

Mexican-born director Alejandro Monteverde’s new movie is based on real events and a real hero. The immensely talented Jim Caviezel portrays a former agent for the Department of Homeland Security, Tim Ballard. It’s an incisive film that not only entertains, but also illuminates.

The Impressive Cast

The acting in the film is outstanding from top to bottom. Caviezel’s ability to portray Ballard as a man tormented by the horrors he’s witnessed during his 12-year career in human-trafficking investigations is incredible. In certain scenes, his eyes emote so much sorrow that you feel the character’s pain. His skill at conveying Ballard’s demeanor of a “quiet storm” is consistently mesmerizing and lends gravitas to the film.

Another stand-out actor is Bill Camp as Vampiro, a similarly anguished soul who turned his back on cartel life and now runs a clandestine operation in Colombia that rescues children from traffickers. He and Ballard identify deeply with one another and go all out in their extremely dangerous efforts to rescue children from the hands of some very bad people.

In one engrossing male-bonding scene, Vampiro describes to Ballard how he transformed his life and gave it new meaning just in the nick of time. He tells Ballard, “When God tells you what to do … you cannot hesitate.”

Mira Sorvino is also impressive as Ballard’s wife, Katherine, who supports her husband’s burning desire to save children. Fortunately, director Monteverde (who also co-wrote the script) didn’t pad the movie with unnecessary home-life scenes—rather, there are a few touching moments between husband and wife that convincingly convey their mutual love.

A special mention must go out to all of the child actors, particularly Cristal Aparicio as Rocio Aguilar. Her expressive face as her character is being transported from place to place tears your heart out. This young actress has a very bright future ahead of her.

A Most Important Film

The film is a thriller with constant tension as Ballard maneuvers through the sleazy world of human trafficking; you never know if his cover is going to be blown. This is especially true when he becomes fed up with the HSI’s bureaucracy and quits his job, yet continues his perilous investigations with a small cadre of like-minded individuals.

In addition to being a solid thriller, this film sprinkles into its dialogue lesser-known aspects of the human-trafficking industry. For instance, we learn that “you can sell a bag of cocaine one time … but a child … you can sell a 5-year-old kid, five to 10 times a day for 10 years straight.”

It is also revealed that human trafficking has already surpassed the illegal arms trade in terms of revenue and is well on its way to outstripping the long-reigning king of crime, the illegal drug trade.

In a recent interview with The Epoch Times, Caviezel called “Sound of Freedom” his most important film since 2004’s “The Passion of the Christ,” saying: “It’s the best thing I’ve done since that film. Quality-wise, acting-wise, there’s not a flaw.”

I can sympathize with his sentiments. As a writer and journalist, I will say that this is the most important film review I’ve ever written because it can help to raise awareness of the rapidly expanding business of child trafficking.

The sobering text shown near the end of the film is something we should all heed: “Human trafficking is a 150 billion-dollar-a-year business. The United States is one of the top destinations for human trafficking and is among the largest consumers of child sex. There are more humans trapped in slavery today than [at] any other time in history—including when slavery was legal. Millions of these slaves are children.”