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Children of a Lesser God (1986)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
3 October 1986 (USA)
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Tagline:
Love has a language all of its own.
Plot:
James is a new speech teacher at a school for the deaf. He falls for Sarah, a pupil who decided to stay...
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Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 4 wins
&
10 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(15 articles)
Matlin Has No Problems With Cartoon Show Poking Fun At Her Deafness
(From WENN. 13 November 2009, 5:36 PM, PST)
Oscar-talk: Best Actress contenders! Is it too early for Saoirse Ronan to win an Oscar?
(From The Movie Fanatic. 12 November 2009, 5:52 PM, PST)
(From WENN. 13 November 2009, 5:36 PM, PST)
Oscar-talk: Best Actress contenders! Is it too early for Saoirse Ronan to win an Oscar?
(From The Movie Fanatic. 12 November 2009, 5:52 PM, PST)
User Comments:
What Movies Were Meant To Be
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | William Hurt | ... | James Leeds |
 | Marlee Matlin | ... | Sarah Norman |
 | Piper Laurie | ... | Mrs. Norman |
| Philip Bosco | ... | Dr. Curtis Franklin |
| Allison Gompf | ... | Lydia |
| John F. Cleary | ... | Johnny |
| Philip Holmes | ... | Glen |
| Georgia Ann Cline | ... | Cheryl |
| William D. Byrd | ... | Danny |
| Frank Carter Jr. | ... | Tony |
| John Limnidis | ... | William |
 | Bob Hiltermann | ... | Orin |
 | E. Katherine Kerr | ... | Mary Lee Ochs |
| John Basinger | ... | Alan Jones |
| Barry Magnani | ... | Tom Schuyler |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
119 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:L |
Singapore:NC-16 |
South Korea:15 |
Argentina:13 |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-12 |
Norway:12 |
Sweden:7 |
UK:15 |
USA:R |
West Germany:12 |
Peru:14 |
Australia:M
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Marlee Matlin won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Sarah Norman. At 21, she is the youngest winner of a Best Actress Oscar.
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Goofs:
Miscellaneous: The DVD back lists a main character as "John" Leeds, when the name should be "JAMES" Leeds.
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Quotes:
James Leeds:
[talking to Sarah while she is in the university swimming pool after hours] You are the most mysterious, beautiful, angry person I have ever met. I am falling in l...
[Sarah quickly backs away from the pool ledge, clearly uneasy]
James Leeds: Sarah... Sarah! I am falling... into the pool with you!
[falls forward into pool]
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[Sarah quickly backs away from the pool ledge, clearly uneasy]
James Leeds: Sarah... Sarah! I am falling... into the pool with you!
[falls forward into pool]
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Movie Connections:
Featured in "See Hear: (#29.13)" (2009)
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Soundtrack:
Godfather Mazurka
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FAQ
How does it end?***Items Below This Point Might Contain Spoilers***
Chapter Headings, an official version:
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This is one my favorite movies of all time. The quality of the acting leaves me breathless. The scene where Sarah is dancing slowly to a song by the Staples Singers says so much - the tempo is fast and most people were disco dancing or "stepping" to "I'll Take You There." Sarah feels the real underlying slow beat of the music and responds to that. It was a very moving scene.
Piper Laurie as her mother was phenomenol. Her expressions and body language said so much more than her words. You could tell she really loved Sarah and was frustrated that she didn't really understand her. She also had a little bit of the "bury your head in the sand" approach to Sarah's deafness.
Sarah was determined to have the world accept her on HER own terms and simply turned her back on it when it did not. Sarah was intelligent, beautiful and fun. She couldn't understand why people seemed to define and categorize her by her deafness. She was so much more than that and William Hurt's (I don't remember his name in the movie) character was sensitive enough to recognize that. His character was a little condescending and pushy, and I can see where he would get on any girl's nerves because he was not a good listener. He wanted Sarah to be the person he though she should be and justified it under his guise of "helping" her to cope in a hearing world. She was smart enough to figure him out and reject his attempt to mold her.
You could feel Sarah's loneliness in her silent world and you knew that she wanted love, friends and happiness just like the rest of us, but didn't know if she would ever get them.
I really loved the character and the whole movie. It gave us a brief glimpse into a deaf person's world through some extraordinary scenes: Sarah swimming and describing to William Hurt exactly how she imagined waves sounded, and getting it right; Marian Lesser communicating only in sign language at the party which gave William Hurt's character a chance to see things from another perspective. I think he learned that there is more than one standard way to live and enjoy life and being unable to hear isn't the worst thing that could happen to a person.