User Reviews

I am a high school German teacher and my kids absolutely love watching this movie! They always ask to watch it over and over when I can't be there and they have to have a sub.

I have learned some A.S.L. and can say that there are similarities but A.S.L. and German Sign Language are definitely different! I can appreciate the struggles Lara goes through and she does a good job, for her, at trying to balance in all 3 worlds. Deaf, Hearing and Music. It's only when outside factors cause tension that spill over into one or more of her worlds that she has trouble coping! There is that one sad moment in the film that gets me every time, something I can relate to but, overall, the entire film is captivating and leaves you wanting to know what happens with Lara, her career and her relationship with her family and Tom afterward! I'll never tire of this film!

"Jenseits der Stille" is an almost 20-year-old German movie by Caroline Link. This film here scored an Academy Award nomination, but lost to the Dutch entry. However, 5 years later Link triumphed ("Nirgendwo in Afrika") and she was pretty young back then as in 2015 she is 50 years old. The story here is simply. A girl has deaf parents and helps them with coping in everyday life as good as she can, but her ability to hear makes her long for a more meaningful life. She becomes a musician and longs for the support of her family, especially her dad's, but he cannot really accept and appreciate what his daughter does as he cannot hear it. He says in one scene that he would actually have preferred her to be deaf as well.

During these roughly 105 minutes, we also meet some other family members and watch how the protagonist has to deal with the loss of a beloved person. The first 40 minutes or so are about the central character's life as a child and how she gets into playing the clarinet. The transformation from girl to woman (if you can say that) happens during a concert as there is a time jump of roughly 10 years. Sylvie Testud takes over at this point. She won a German Film Award for her performance here. If you have seen Marion Cotillard's Oscar winning turn in "La môme", you will have come across Testud there as well. That is possibly her most famous movie.

Anyway, I have to say I enjoyed this film and there is really not much wrong with it. I especially enjoyed the first 45 minutes because the child actress Tatjana Trieb is very good and the writing is excellent there as well when we get to watch how she constantly interprets between her parents and everybody else or helps her mother in watching old romance movies. I did like the ending from an emotional perspective, but the reunion between her and her dad could have been even more effective if they had taken a more subtle approach. Even I was thinking that she finally needs to play during the audition instead of constantly talking to her father and ignoring the professors. There is a very successful French movie named "La famille Bélier" out right now and there are really quite a few parallels between these two films. If you saw this new film, give the old one "Jenseits der Stille" a chance as well. You will most likely not be disappointed. Also it has excellent music. Recommended.

"Beyond Silence" is a film co-written and directed by Caroline Link--the same lady responsible for "Nowhere Out of Africa"--a film that won the Best Foreign Language Oscar a few years ago. The story is about a teen who loves music and wishes to go to a music college. Yet, oddly, her parents are deaf and cannot really enjoy her music--nor do they really understand why this is important to her. The main themes then are understanding and acceptance.

I have a rather unique perspective on "Beyond Silence" and so how I judge it maybe very different from the average viewer. My daughter is deaf and my wife and I are hard of hearing (mine is minor and began much more recently). So, a film that talks about issues pertaining to a family with deaf and non-deaf family members is naturally something that would appeal to us--and it would have many aspects to it that would be more important to us than the average viewer.

Here are some things an American deaf audience would probably like to know about the film. First, the sign language in this film is sometimes pretty easy to understand--German sign language is a but more like American sign language than is the British system. Sure, a few words here and there were different (that's to be expected), but some was identical or very similar and you should be able to follow what they are saying if you know American Sign Language. Plus, the same issues facing the deaf and hearing family members are the same throughout the world, so it won't matter that it takes place in Germany. Second, if you watch the film, select caption option #2--NOT #1. That's because although the German being spoken is translated (as is MOST of the sign language), when in a few tiny cases people speak English, this is NOT captioned if you choose option #1.

The film is about a dilemma I know about but have never seen on TV or in film. It's the story of a hearing child who has deaf parents--and there are many complications as a result of this. First, the hearing girl is the window to the world for the parents. This tiny kid ends up translating and even doing very adult conversations for the parents because the parents are not skilled at communicating any way other than sign language. And, at times, the child strongly manipulates her parents--translating thins in a manner that is best for her but not, at times, very accurate (this is a VERY common problem*). It's also a negative for the child, however, as their needs often become secondary and they are forced to give up much of themselves. It's not surprising, then, that Clarissa decides to take up music--something she can have that uniquely hers and separate from her parents. I thought it was fascinating that she chose the clarinet--an instrument deaf parents would have difficulty enjoying (had she chosen the bass or drums, the parents could have readily enjoyed along with her).

The film also brings up a lot of practical information that the typical person would not know. The fact that the parents (in their 30s to about 50 in the film) would only use sign language and have VERY limited vocal skills might surprise some. What might be more surprising is that the father's own family never really learned to communicate with him!! Sadly, only about 10% of the families with deaf kids learn sign language--the vast majority simply point or leave them out of what is happening. And so when this happens in the movie, I wasn't at all surprised but know it would be shocking to many to see family get togethers where NO ONE spoke with the deaf folks except their own child! That's really sad but the norm. And when the father becomes enraged because he is left out, you certainly can understand this--though his family just thinks he's an angry person or make excuses to baby him instead of addressing the problem.

As a result of these aspects of the film, it's obvious the folks who wrote the film grew up in such a home or know people who struggled with some of these same issues. That's rare, as some times I have seen deaf characters, it's as if they were written by people who have no idea of the problems they face...or their kids (the vast majority of whom are hearing). Sadly, however, there are no special features to tell you about this, the making or the film or why they chose to make it! By the way, aside from a brief nude scene (you really don't see anything) this is good viewing for the family. I would hope non-deaf and deaf audiences alike would enjoy the film--I know I did. It was exceptionally well made and I loved the music. A quality production throughout.

*As you can see in the film, a teachers' conference with the parents where the child translates is a very BAD idea! In the US this often occurs and should call for a school-provided interpreter! The same can be said for when the parents were dealing with the bank and their daughter simply interpreted what she wanted to interpret and nothing more!