THE SILENT ARMY

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THE SILENT ARMY is a drama set in Africa about a young boy forced to murder his father before being abducted and coerced into becoming a child soldier. The film was classified ‘15’ for strong violence.

The BBFC’s Guidelines at ‘12A’/’12’ state ‘Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context’. The majority of the violence in this film is restrained and could have been contained at ‘12A’, with many of the depictions of murder being either only inferred or taking place off or below screen. There are, however, a couple of gory scenes that take the work to a ‘15’ classification. In one scene there is brief sight of a fly-covered severed head, that of the boy's father, and in another scene a teenage child soldier steps on a land-mine and has a leg blown off. There is some focus on both the bloody stump and the severed leg, which is recovered in order to acquire the football boot that is still on the foot.

THE SILENT ARMY includes a single use of strong language and some moderate verbal sex references, all of which would have been allowed at ‘12A’.