Product Details

• Actors: Fini Straubinger
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: German
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: New Yorker
• DVD Release Date: July 5, 2005
• Run Time: 81 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009KA7DG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,430 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

"In this astonishing documentary about the world of the deaf-blind, acclaimed director Werner Herzog (Signs of Life, Aguirre: The Wrath of God) explores the life of Fini Straubinger, a remarkable and kind-hearted 56-year-old deaf and blind woman who has dedicated her life to helping the similarly afflicted.

From their first flight on an airplane to a day at a petting-zoo, Herzog captures the joys and struggles of those who have been isolated from the world around them.

Land of Silence and Darkness is a tribute to the triumphant nature of the human spirit and a glimpse into an existence so intense and abstract that at times it seems to reach great lyrical heights. "

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very touching portrait of the deaf-blind., October 29, 2006

By 

F. Barragan "barragan" (Bogotá,Colombia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Land of Silence and Darkness (DVD)

Werner Herzog is famous for his movies about obssesive maniacs (Aguirre, Fitzcarraldo, etc.). However, it turns out that he has a great sensibility for documentary films. Although this movie is not for everyone -it has a very slow narrative- it is a very important testimony of those people who have lived in the land of darkness (blindness) and silence (deafness). It shows, amongst many other things, how these people live, how they "see" the world (notice how language falls apart here)and how they communicate. A word of advice: there is a shot of a poor child who was born deaf and blind and lived in isolation for several years (imagine a person who has not developed linguistic skills at all). That is one frightening and sordid scene that will give you nightmares.

I have a weird obsession with documentaries and love this film; however, if you're not into this genre you may want to rent the dvd first.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly touching documentary!, May 3, 2011

By 

Chernabog (Brazil) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Land of Silence and Darkness (DVD)

As a huge Werner Herzog fan I was very very touched by this DVD. How Werner Herzog -who strikes me as an iron man with an iron will- manages to search and find such touching subjects for his movies and documentaries is far beyond my understanding...
The line in which the old lady says that in the moment the person let go her hand she feels "hundreads od miles away" (they speak with the blind/deaf people trough a complex alphabet in which the palm of the hand is crossed and touched by the interpreter's finger) is enough to make you cry...
Also her description that the deaf person often hears annoying sounds all the time and the blind person sees patterns of colour was a cruel revelation for me. Some of the characters are born blind and deaf and some others became impaired by some accident. Despite our personal problems -that we all have- this movie can put the sensitive listener into a very humane perpective. Forgive some mistake in English and the preaching tone, but I was really speechless after i watched it. It is worth every cent!!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "I'm no different from you", May 19, 2007

By 

Josef I. Cruz - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Land of Silence and Darkness (DVD)

I'm no different from you is a reccuring line you'll here throughout the film as Fini Straubinger (who I guess would come closest to being the protagonist) tries to connect with other deaf & blind handicaps. Yet that same line is something that struck me strongly as I noticed how certain myths and preconceptions about the deaf & blind were brought to light by the film. They were truly no different from you or I despite the handicap they had. In fact the only thing that really held these people back from living normally was society and even family. Overall the film was very informative to say at the least, it's best to watch this viewing experience brought by Werner Herzog yourself and see a different side to the Land of Darkness and Silence.