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The Silent Army

Original title: Wit licht
  • 2008
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
5.9/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
The Silent Army (2008)
DramaThriller

Child soldiers in Africa are at the fore in this tale of a white restaurant owner in an African town bordering a conflict zone. When his son's African friend Abu is abducted, he sets out to ... Read allChild soldiers in Africa are at the fore in this tale of a white restaurant owner in an African town bordering a conflict zone. When his son's African friend Abu is abducted, he sets out to find the boy, and walks right into a training camp exploiting children like Abu.Child soldiers in Africa are at the fore in this tale of a white restaurant owner in an African town bordering a conflict zone. When his son's African friend Abu is abducted, he sets out to find the boy, and walks right into a training camp exploiting children like Abu.

  • Director
    • Jean van de Velde
  • Writer
    • Jean van de Velde
  • Stars
    • Marco Borsato
    • Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga
    • Thekla Reuten
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.9/10
    1.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jean van de Velde
    • Writer
      • Jean van de Velde
    • Stars
      • Marco Borsato
      • Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga
      • Thekla Reuten
    • 12User reviews
    • 26Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 3 nominations total

    Photos

    Top cast12

    Edit
    Marco Borsato
    • Eduard Zuiderwijk
    Abby Mukiibi Nkaaga
    • Michel Obeke
    Thekla Reuten
    Thekla Reuten
    • Valerie
    Andrew Kintu
    • Abu
    Siebe Schoneveld
    Siebe Schoneveld
    • Thomas Zuiderwijk
    Peter Van den Begin
    Peter Van den Begin
    • François Lama
    Ricky Koole
    Ricky Koole
    • Anna Zuiderwijk
    Adrian Galley
    • Ruud van Kalenberg
    Jacqueline Blom
    • Agnes van Dam
    Frederick Mpuuga
    • Rebel commander
    Vuks Ngcingwana
    • Commander
    Sam Okelo
    • Abu's Father
    • Director
      • Jean van de Velde
    • Writer
      • Jean van de Velde
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews12

    5.91.2K
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    Featured reviews

    9sebastiaanjan

    Marco owns people

    This is one of the most underestimated movies i have ever seen, people go to this movie prejudged as hell! No matter what Marco would have done they would all voted an 1 anyway, they don't recognize acting skills when they see it.. Marco Borsato did a good job in this movie, it was his first movie even!

    This movie is really worth going to, a Must-see and everyone of these lame people who voted a 1 and saying that this movie failed, they fell in Marco Borsatos trap! Haha, Marco Borsato used his popularity to get people to go see this movie and FOCUS those people's attention on the whole of children soldier subject, and when you look at this movie you will get focused on that subject trust me!

    So all the people who say this movie didn't work and went to it to watch it! The movie surely worked on them! They went there, not cause it would gonna be a great movie, not cause the subject attracts them BUT BECAUSE MARCO BORSATO PLAYED IN IT! they totally fell in the "attract-attention-from-people-trap" and Marco even made this a good movie, double win for Marco! 2-0
    5Leofwine_draca

    Flawed but worthy exploration of a difficult subject

    THE SILENT ARMY is a Dutch film looking at the plight of child soldiers fighting for warlords in sub-Saharan Africa. The film humanises the story by having as its central protagonist a white man desperately hunting for the kidnapped son of a friend who has been taken by a notorious general and who is now a ruthlessly cold-blooded killer.

    The film I can best compare this with is JOHNNY MAD DOG, a Liberian effort which had greater authenticity and realism but hardly any kind of story. Thus THE SILENT ARMY is the better picture, even though the story is spoilt a little by the low budget; some of the moments are rather cheesy (such as a CGI explosion) which is a pity given the grittiness seen elsewhere in the story.

    The language is a mixture of English and Dutch. The acting is generally authentic and compelling enough to keep you watching. The film is violent and harrowing without ever being disgustingly graphic. The actor who played the warlord made the film for me with his completely chilling and efficient performance devoid of emotion and feeling. It's a film worth watching if you can handle the subject matter.
    Nashir_ali

    Avoid this movie!

    First of all; the behavior of Marco Borsato is very rookies and secondly you can save time when you watch a Warchild ad, because this movie is just one huge Warchild advert.

    All the effort of showing the Warchild (a NGO) case is really annoying and this is a bad ego trip of Marco Borsato Borsato is the only hero of the movie and the Africans all seem to be war victims or war criminals and nothing else. If a naive cook from Europe becomes a action "hero" in the way that it has being filmed it looks like a nice piece of imperialism.

    The subject of child soldiers has already been told and filmed hundreds of times and this movie is not a good way to show the problem, because its just a personal ego trip of those who made it.
    8imdb-21347

    Dutch singer starts acting for a good cause

    "White Light" is the story of a cook (Eduard Zuiderwijk played by Marco Borsato) in South Africa who wants to find the child of one of his employees. The child (Abu) was abducted to become a child soldier. The story shows the impact of such experiences to the children.

    There is a lot to do about this movie since the popular Dutch singer Marco Borsato had no acting experience. He uses his popularity to support the WarChild foundation. This movie gets you right in the middle of what WarChild is all about. Marco is a typical 'feel good' guy with 'feel good' music. Don't expect a 'feel good' movie though. Reality will hit you hard in the face.

    Accept the fact that Marco is a rookie actor and within the first 15 minutes you will enjoy one of the better Dutch movies ever made.
    10mdijkman444

    Drama and action find a new height!

    An evening to the movies turns out to be one of the greatest accomplishes in Dutch cinema.

    Wit licht starring Marco Borsato is a great movie! From the first second you sit in your seat you are caught into the story line in which Marco Borsato goes on his journey to find a boy who has been taken by rebels. Although Marco Borsato is a singer from origin he delivers great screenplay and at the end of the movie he had the whole theater in tears.

    Wit licht brings attention to the problems in Africa while bringing great entertainment to the movie theaters. 10/10!

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    Related interests

    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    Cho Yeo-jeong in Parasite (2019)
    Thriller

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The international version of this film ("The Silent Army") was the original Dutch entry for the Academy Awards' Best Foreign Film. However, the film was turned down because it was a re-cut version. This led to the submission of Winter in Wartime (2008).
    • Quotes

      Valerie: Most people have brilliant reasons to do nothing at all.

    • Alternate versions
      A shorter (92 minutes) version that left out all the music and focused less on Marco Borsato was cut under the supervision of French critic, director and editor Pierre Rissient. This version was retitled 'The Silent Army'.
    • Connections
      Featured in Pauw & Witteman: Episode #3.64 (2008)

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 11, 2008 (Netherlands)
    • Country of origin
      • Netherlands
    • Official site
      • Official site [Netherlands]
    • Languages
      • Dutch
      • English
      • Swahili
      • French
    • Also known as
      • Vahşetin Çocukları
    • Filming locations
      • South Africa
    • Production companies
      • A The Entertainment Group
      • Honoris Causa Communication
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $2,920,058
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 55m(115 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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