Jenseits der Stille/Beyond Silence (1996):
Brief Review -
A great conflict between blood relatives, but could have been more engrossing and tactical. Beyond Silence explores a great conflict between deaf parents and their music-loving daughter. The daughter wants to pursue a career in music (her instrument is the clarinet), but her parents can't hear, so it becomes difficult for her. Her main duty for her parents, which is to be their interpreter, somehow starts annoying her, and she begins to dislike her father. I remember watching a similar topic in "CODA" recently, but the humour and comedy were far better there. Beyond Silence is mute in the comedy zone and deaf in humor. The plot lacks dramatic sequences and engrossing moments, which usually lift such dramas. Remember what The Miracle Worker did with those intense moments with a child? I was expecting something like that from this movie, but it fell flat there. The love story, arguments, and family disliking all seemed rushed. It's not a long film, but it still has many slow films, and I was happy to use the fast-forward button time and again. The screenplay could have been faster than this, especially when you have fewer dialogues and more subtitles to read. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the film doesn't have heavy dramatic sequences. For that, you need long monologues, and here, two of the main characters couldn't have those verbal conversations and arguments due to disability. Also, I feel that the climax was too typical for the 90s. Sylvie Testud and Tatjana Trieb play teenage and childhood Lara, respectively, and both have done a great job. Howie Seago was amazing, and Emmanuelle Laborit looked so cute. I had a feeling that Sibylle Canonica was turning out to be a good villain, and then there was a fine reformation in the ending. By the way, she was too beautiful to become a villain. Caroline Link's story might not be that good, but her direction skills were notably good. Overall, a fine flick on a challenging conflict, but couldn't see its own potential of becoming a path-breaking film.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.
A great conflict between blood relatives, but could have been more engrossing and tactical. Beyond Silence explores a great conflict between deaf parents and their music-loving daughter. The daughter wants to pursue a career in music (her instrument is the clarinet), but her parents can't hear, so it becomes difficult for her. Her main duty for her parents, which is to be their interpreter, somehow starts annoying her, and she begins to dislike her father. I remember watching a similar topic in "CODA" recently, but the humour and comedy were far better there. Beyond Silence is mute in the comedy zone and deaf in humor. The plot lacks dramatic sequences and engrossing moments, which usually lift such dramas. Remember what The Miracle Worker did with those intense moments with a child? I was expecting something like that from this movie, but it fell flat there. The love story, arguments, and family disliking all seemed rushed. It's not a long film, but it still has many slow films, and I was happy to use the fast-forward button time and again. The screenplay could have been faster than this, especially when you have fewer dialogues and more subtitles to read. Maybe that's one of the reasons why the film doesn't have heavy dramatic sequences. For that, you need long monologues, and here, two of the main characters couldn't have those verbal conversations and arguments due to disability. Also, I feel that the climax was too typical for the 90s. Sylvie Testud and Tatjana Trieb play teenage and childhood Lara, respectively, and both have done a great job. Howie Seago was amazing, and Emmanuelle Laborit looked so cute. I had a feeling that Sibylle Canonica was turning out to be a good villain, and then there was a fine reformation in the ending. By the way, she was too beautiful to become a villain. Caroline Link's story might not be that good, but her direction skills were notably good. Overall, a fine flick on a challenging conflict, but couldn't see its own potential of becoming a path-breaking film.
RATING - 6/10*
By - #samthebestest.