Moving, emotionally and morally complex documentary about a family with both hearing and deaf members, including two sets of parents of deaf children. One set of parents are hearing, the other deaf themselves. The fathers are brothers.
The hearing parents want a cochlear implant for their deaf baby, angering and alienating the deaf relatives who see the operation as a threat to deaf culture. The even more complex story is that of the 5 year old deaf daughter of the deaf parents. The little girl wants the implant, and that creates an awful emotional dilemma for the parents who have to question whether denying their daughter the operation is the right thing to do.
There are a few minor annoyances. The families try to act like the camera isn't there, but it clearly is awkwardly affecting their behavior. Also, I wish the film had subtitled the sign language, rather than having less-than-great actors give their own inflection and emotional interpretation to what's being said, which may or may not be accurate.
But these are minor problems for a film that tackles a complex issue with intelligence and even-handedness.
The hearing parents want a cochlear implant for their deaf baby, angering and alienating the deaf relatives who see the operation as a threat to deaf culture. The even more complex story is that of the 5 year old deaf daughter of the deaf parents. The little girl wants the implant, and that creates an awful emotional dilemma for the parents who have to question whether denying their daughter the operation is the right thing to do.
There are a few minor annoyances. The families try to act like the camera isn't there, but it clearly is awkwardly affecting their behavior. Also, I wish the film had subtitled the sign language, rather than having less-than-great actors give their own inflection and emotional interpretation to what's being said, which may or may not be accurate.
But these are minor problems for a film that tackles a complex issue with intelligence and even-handedness.
