Artists can move society forward. France has the Coluche law, Korea has the 'Dogani' law (the Korean title of Silenced). You may find this film exaggerated, but it describes facts that have been well established since the various trials (see Wikipedia "Gwangju Inhwa School"). By using the book that exposed the facts, and by giving a little more heroism to the teacher at the centre of the story (who was a little less courageous in the book), the film mobilised the Korean population to the point of changing the law and retrying the guilty parties (12 and 7 years in prison this time).

We might also add that this success is due to the determination of Gong Yoo, who, having just been demobilised from his military service, set about putting into pictures the book that had been given to him.

The icing on the cake is that the film is so well shot and acted (yes, precautions have been taken for children, see Gong Yoo's interview on You tube) that it's enough to recommend it.