Customer Reviews

Beyond Silence [VHS]

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was an absolutely beautiful movie. It tells the story of Lara, a child with normal hearing who has two deaf parents. Although her parents can function without Lara, her parents have come to depend on her as a link to the 'hearing' world, even though she is very, very young.

Needless to say, the deafness of her parents has created interesting personality dynamics in Lara's world. One of the most strained relationships is between Lara's father and his sister Clarissa. When Clarissa introduces Lara to the clarinet, this is something that Lara latches on to, even though her parents can't comprehend the music she's playing. Because of this, and because it is Clarissa who wants her to keep at it, her parents are less than overjoyed. The film revolves around Lara growing up and excelling at playing the clarinet, and the decisions she has to make if she wants to pursue her music at a higher level. None of the characters are transparent or superficial; one gets the idea of their thoughts and their reasonings by the way they act and interact with one another.

The DVD is in German, with options for English subtitles or English for the hearing impared (It would be sad if they didn't; after all, this is a film about deaf people.) The only other "extra" is basically an advertisement for "other films you might like". However, this shouldn't deter one from enjoying this absolutely exquisite film.

If I had any musical talent, this film could easily be my life. The story is about a young hearing girl, Lara, growing up with two deaf parents. Lara often uses her parent's disability to her advantage, sometimes not relaying all the information in a conversation when she is asked to interpret, or outright lying in these scenarios. Her aunt, Dad's sister, presents her with a clarinet and develops a tight bond with Lara. Their relationship is very different than that of Lara and her parents simply due to the communication factor. Lara wishes her aunt was her mother.

The conflict in the film arises from the issues Lara's father has with her love for music. He is tormented by family memories of his sister being adored for her musical talent, while he is hauled off to the other room to be locked up like an animal.

This is an amazing film. As a hearing child of deaf parents, it comes closest to my own experiences and frustrations with deaf and hearing culture internal and external to the family unit. It is easily in my top-five films of all time.

i was a deaf education major in college and can safely say that this is the best representation i have ever seen of the deaf community. it is an excellent movie and i HIGHLY recommend it.

Lara's answer to her deaf father's anxious query: "Have I lost you?" is "I've loved you since the day I was born". The innocence and power of that simple answer brought tears to my eyes. This wonderful movie takes the viewer on a noncynical, nonneurotic journey of family love challenged, and at the same time deeply enriched by disability. Beyond Silence reminds us that our families both shelter and constrain, and that we must dream and love and work our way into new relationships that will shelter and support us without trapping us. I loved the lyrical weave of words translated into sign language. Watching Beyond Silence reminded me of seeing beautiful ensemble dancers accompanied by the haunting notes of an instrument rarely seen in movies--the clarinet. The innocent, captivating beauty of the young Lara captured my imagination as well as my heart. I loved this movie and cannot wait to share it with everyone I know. It is a movie that celebrates the human heart and spirit. Worth Five stars and more. In the same league as What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and Dominick and Eugene. Worth its weight in gold.

This movie wasn't so much about Lara finding out how to live in the "real" world as one other reviewer has put it, but more so about how Lara, as a hearing child of Deaf parents comes to learn and build a bridge between two very distinct cultures-that of the hearing world and that of the Deaf. She is frustrated by and has experience of both and finds herself having to learn how she is to embrace them. This not only happens through the conflicts that build within her own family but also when she reaches out and finds someone just like herself. This was a beautiful and stirring movie for myself and I hope others would see it also...a great movie for kids.

I saw this movie when it first came out in the theaters in Germany - and agin last night on video. The movie is excellent but I was very disappointed that a very beautiful scene was cut out for the video release. It shows a bee crawling on Lara's breast with the comment of her boyfriend that bees do not hear but sense vibrations. Why in the world was this scene cut out? I hope if Caroline Link's next excellent movie (Nowhere in Africa) is released in the US everything is left the way it was intended.

This is exquisite and delightful film of a hearing daughter of deaf parents whose father hasn't fully matured in his deafness nor reconciled with previous family issues, nor has daughter fully matured in understanding the deaf as well as family who hasn't fully matured in the integration of hearing world with the deaf world.

Catalyst of this daughter whose musical gift on clarinet causes reaction of brother-sister and daughter-father as she matures into a young adult musician.

Even with the English subcaptions this movie is a grabber and romancer. It is very well done from its cinematography to its soundtrack. The acting is excellent. I think the father resembles closely a Boris Becker add a few extra pounds.

This film dramatizes the Deaf and hearing worlds in an entertaining and provocative way that touches deep.

"Beyond Silence" is one of the best films I have seen in years! It is the story of a young girl, the daughter of deaf parents, who is looking for her place in the world. A common plot for movies -- but this film does not go for hollow sentimentality or cliches. The characters are complex, and the plot has some surprising twists. There are no villains, no overly dramatic emotional scenes; everything is realistically portrayed. The ending is satisfying, and like life, not all questions are answered. American film could learn a lot from this, especially in terms of eliciting real emotional responses from an audience.

I am studying the german language and its wonderful when I find a movie in german, that was so good! Yeah, most german movies i have seen so far are mostly for the comedy aspect in the way their characters interact, i find that along with the drama that occured w/ the main character, this is a very inspring film! The main character grew up before your eyes, amazing you how she delt with her every-day situations, translating for her parents stuff on the television and what her peers and teachers what they wanted to say to her parents. Of course, being a little girl, the humor is when she doesn't quite translate it word for word. This movie has inspired me to be more serious to my language study. I might want to even to expand to ASL. All that I know is that this movie was good, and is viewable by everyone. There is no bad scenes only inspiring ones! This which leads to my second question, why isn't this movie avalible on DVD yet? This movie, if they did a little more advertising, would be a summer DVD sale hit! Trust my word on it. Hey, um DVD companies, please put this on dvd sooooooon!

If you want to contact me, my e-mail is xena03@home.com, and thats all i have to say :0)

Iam a child of one deaf parent and I have just started to learm ASL due to my family. I belive that this movie should be played in every calss room to teach hearing people to go beyound the language and learn a language that millions speak and that is very beutiful.