CRIES OF SILENCE

On August 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille ravaged Sister Island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, leaving death and devastation in its wake. Inspecting the site afterwards, Dr. Dorrie Walsh (Kathleen York) discovers the limp body of a teenage girl (Erin Buchanan) lying face-down at the water’s edge: a survivor, but who is she? No one seems to know.

With no one to care for her, the unknown girl is taken to the home of Dr. Walsh’s mother, Rose (Karen Black). Here, she huddles under the kitchen table for safety, rocking back and forth, clutching a tin cup, refusing to utter a sound. Determining to unlock the mystery of the girl’s identity and her deep-seated fears, Dr. Walsh names her “Camille,” after the hurricane.

Sensing that there is “a light in there somewhere,” Dorrie convinces Mrs. Shelley, the heartless social worker who was assigned to Camille’s case, to grant Dorrie temporary custody. To her consternation, the doctor finds that Camille responds to the sounds of bugs and to rain but not to voices. She loves the sun but fears the ground. Camille is unable to look at her.

Finally, a breakthrough occurs. As radio music from “The Prince of Denmark” plays in the background, Camille utters a strange primal cry, followed by terror at what she has done. With gentle encouragement from her caregivers, the girl slowly begins to exhibit curiosity about her new surroundings. She connects with a painting of flowers and the sound of a seashell, yet continues to show signs of sensory deprivation and a lack of emotional expression.

The breakthrough makes Dorrie more determined than ever to find the key to unlock the girl’s peculiar behavior. Extrapolating from her own background, Dorrie recalls herself as a disturbed child whose mother was incapable of meeting her emotional needs. Blaming herself for Rose’s failures as a mother, she suffers severe depression and a nervous breakdown as an adult. Dorrie realizes that she feels that she has to fix things for this brooding little girl who is so much like her. She enjoys how Camille begins to bond with her, clinging to her like a baby to its mother.

Dorrie suspects that Camille has been a closet child, locked up by her family as a baby. Her suspicions are confirmed when she finds a cage near the shore where the girl had been rescued. Hanging from the chicken wire is a piece of torn fabric which matches the dress Camille had been wearing.

The pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together when Royce Earl Petrie (Ed Nelson), a local boy, shares with Dorrie tales of the strange family who lived next door: J. D. Lynch, the backwoods man prone to outbursts of violent temper; his retarded wife, Esther, with an IQ below 35; their licentious daughter LuAnn, who died suddenly and unexpectedly; Dr. Clairborne, the town doctor; and, the “ghost” baby, whose cries were sometimes heard coming from the boarded-up window of the house. Finally, the truth is revealed as the web of lies falls apart which ignorant folk spun to preserve “family secrets” of horrible verbal, physical and sexual abuse. Dorrie’s belief that she could use love to “chip away at Camille’s tragic past” frees the girl from her crippling fears. Camille comes to believe that no one will ever again “hurt the baby.” At a critical moment, Camille responds with words to Dorrie’s anguished entreaty: “Camille please talk.”

Director Avery Crounse has crafted an excellent film in CRIES OF SILENCE. Not only extremely suspenseful, it is a story filled with redemptive messages about the healing properties of truth over lies. It tells about healing relationships. Masterfully filmed, with poignant scenes and intense flashbacks, CRIES OF SILENCE contains exceptional performances from the cast.

The movie shows how forgiveness can heal a fractured relationship between Dorrie’s mother, “who can’t be reached by God or man,” and a daughter, “who always had to have someone else to blame.” Dorrie and Camille, who thought the whole world was a threat, found new strength in each other and release from knots of anger and fear. In her final line, Dr. Dorrie Walsh sums up the redemption in CRIES OF SILENCE, “We’ll no longer be islands, and every day I thank God for bringing this angel to my door.”