Sound and Fury (2000)

Director:

Josh Aronson

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

If you could make your deaf children hear, would you do it?

Plot Keywords:

Face Painting | Sign Language | Otolaryngology | Deafness | Reading

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Jaime Leigh Allen	...	(voice)
Jemma Braham	...	(voice)
Freeda Cat	...	(voice)
Scott Davidson	...	Peter Artinian (voice)
Ruthanne Gereghty	...	(voice)
John Griffin	...	(voice)
Barbara Herel	...	(voice)
David Jacobs	...	(voice)
Karl Katz	...	(voice)
John Kaufman	...	(voice)
Ann Lenane	...	(voice)
Phillip Namanworth	...	(voice)
Veronica Nash	...	(voice)
Saul Nathan-Kazis	...	(voice)
Allison Weisberg	...	(voice)

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Aronson Film Associates

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Peter asks Nancy (the girl with the cochlear implant from the deaf family) if she socializes more with deaf or hearing, the voice-over says, "Mostly deaf people." However, she is actually signing, "Grandma and grandpa."

Another worthwhile documentary

I really enjoy documentaries, especially ones that don't have an axe to grind. Though I have no particular interest in the "deaf culture" (my exposure has been limited to a bunch of deaf folks who are in a dart league at the local sports pub), I was drawn into this documentary.

Like another reviewer noted, I found myself getting a little emotional at the end. In fact, throughout the movie I was emotionally involved with a subject matter I would never thought I would.

I was struck by the elitist nature of a certain element of the deaf community. Many of the deaf people in the film were extremely antagonistic toward anything that would remove deafness or a deaf person from their community. While this is understandable, I found it extremely selfish. Not only were many in complete denial that deafness inhibited their quality of life whatsoever (are we still allowed to use the word handicapped???), some considered it superior to the "hearing world." I noted with irony that many of the deaf family members at the picnic who were so repulsed by the idea of a cocklear implant were wearing glasses; obviously they considered being born with or having deteriorating eyesight something in need of fixing. Their attitude reminded me of other defensive groups such as un(der)educated parents (hey, I did OK, why does my son need to go to college) or racial minorities (oh, you just want to make her "white").

Even without the controversial subject of the cocklear implant this is a great study in generations as it is the old story of parents either wanting their kids (adult kids) wanting them to either be like them or to have it better than they had it.