Customer Reviews

In the Land of the Deaf ( Le Pays des sourds ) ( Land of the Deaf ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - United Kingdom ]

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I am a student of American Sign Language, and saw this movie in my class. I was surprised at my reaction to forcing the children to learn to speak. According to my instructor, who herself is deaf, this is very true to life. I recommend this movie to parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing before making any decision about forcing a child to speak just so that they can be "normal".

I have watched this film twice. What doesn't seize to surprise me is the soundtrack of it all. It may seem to be lacking music for the most part but I wish I had a recording of the sound of this film exactly as it is, it has a rythm that is hard for me to explain. I also enjoyed the many levels of good storytelling it has.

I saw this documentary in 1992, and it has stayed with me for 15 years! I came to Amazon looking for a copy so I could watch it again.

The film is mostly interviews of French deaf people, and their comments are eye-openers. One man tells how his parents used to come by the orphanage (!) where they'd deposited him to take him to movies; he'd come back and tell the plot to the other deaf kids. Another woman talks about how she likes the sign for "head in the clouds," and demonstrates why (charming!). I think she's the same one who said she lived in a school for the deaf and could never figure out what happened to deaf people when they turned 18. Did they get taken somewhere? Did they die?

Highly recommended--obviously.

Although this film centers on Deafness in France, the closely related language, culture and people appeals to American audiences. "In the Land of the Deaf" is as moving and telling as any documentary on the Deaf World I have seen. Covering issues including: Deafness and the Arts, Oral Education, Total Communication, Cultural Divides, Abuse and Misunderstanding, Young Adult Life, and the Joys of Deaf Community and Successful Inter-cultural Relations...this film is a MUST SEE for members of every academic dicipline who claim some connection with humanity.

Deafness merely happens to be the subject of this extraordinary documentary. Sensitive and unobstrusive, good camera work, wonderful rhythm, great story telling, sense of humor, no axe to grind and thus all the more moving. All the same adjectives apply to Philibert's "La Moindre des choses" about patients at a clinic outside Paris rehearsing for a play.