Countless films have been made involving triumphs of the physically handicapped or the parents of handicapped children in accepting their kids. This well made German film turned it the other way round, chronicling the tale of one with handicapped parents and the complications involved, or rather, to show how uncomplicated some things can be when there's understanding, patience and determination.
Lara, a sensible but headstrong girl grew up under the guidance of her deaf-mute parents. Dysfunctional it may sounds but she had a fulfilling family life even if one of her tasks is translating the dialogues of romantic movies to sign language for her mother. Being the only ears and voice of the family, she easily took advantage of her ability much to the disapproval of her equally stubborn father. Their tension started building when Lara started learning the clarinet and ultimately excelled in it. Without the ability to appreciate music, there's difficulty for her parents to understand her dream and share her success.
Primarily, it is very much a movie exploring the father-daughter relationship with sibling rivalry in the sideline. The "language barrier" just invoke various complications which made the resolving of tensions more difficult. Instead of letting coincidences be the solution, we get to witness the struggles the characters went through to understand and forgive one another.
Somehow, the ending do came across a little abrupt as it ended just after the father took his first step in understanding his daughter. I just felt that it would more satisfying to affirm his sincerity. Then again, knowing how stubborn that father was, it must have taken him a lot of effort to do that. Taking that first step was indeed very significant and may be all we ever need to know.
Caroline Link's painstaking research paid off as she manage to paint a more or less accurate picture of the deaf-mute community. Their sometimes extraordinary method of doing things does not make them less human than us, a message gently and effectively put across. More painstaking would be the making of the movie as the main players were required to learn the German sign language. There was also some communication problems since some of the main cast were deaf-mute by nature, like the pair playing the parents.
In spite of all that, they still managed to deliver a powerful and heartfelt piece of drama with quite some occasional and timely humour, winning worldwide accolades from both the audiences and critics.
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