Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Children of the Lesser God is a love story, but before the grumbling begins, it is not your typical love story. The film has the pleasure of it's main female lead actress and character being deaf, though that does not impair her ability to fall in love. I love how the movie is very warm and funny, as well as the ability to engage the audience. The film is about courage and the strength to not lot anything stand in the way of happiness. I can actually relate to the movie because I have hearing problems myself, though not nearly as bad. This is a beautiful, well- written film that displays a vast amount of authenticity. This film is about a young speech teacher named James who falls in love with one of his pupils, Sarah. But she shuns him at first because she feels he is making fun of her disability. But as they spend more time together, Sarah begins to have feelings for James whom reopens her eyes to the world. William Hurt does a very strong job as James as he made another 80's movie that featured a strong performance of his. However, the award of best performance has to go to Marlee Matlin who played Sarah. Her powerful performance, which gave her the Oscar, shows that strong performances can be given without words. It's all about the heart.Overall, Children of a Lesser God is a fantastic movie and is one of those hidden 80's movies that you should check out. The movie starts a little slow, but the acting and the screenplay are excellent. The movie always keep things light, which is good for this kind of subject matter. The film may be a love story, but it's a different kind of love story. My Grade: A

Marlee Matlin may have taken home Oscar gold for "Children of a Lesser God" (and she deserved it) but I really do have a newfound respect for William Hurt after watching this. Using Matlin's singing as a comparison, you can tell that he really put in the time to learn sign language for the role. And he has the largely thankless role of interpreting both characters during dialogue scenes. I dunno, I just liked him very much here; he was a great teacher, very sympathetic, and integral in the film's sincerity.And if you can get past that oppressive sore, this is overall a great romantic drama.7/10

"Children of lesser god" is an unique movie. It was the first film directed by a woman (Randa Haines) to be Oscar nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Marlee Matlin is the youngest ever winner of a Best Actress Oscar. Matlin is also one of only four actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar for a debut film performance. The movie is one if the few movies about people with hearing problems and deafness. The film was the first major motion picture since the 1926 silent film You'd Be Surprised to cast a deaf / hearing impaired actor in a major role. Marlee Matlin has only one spoken line in English during the entire film. The rest of her performance is in American Sign Language.The movie is based on critically acclaimed Broadway stage play that was very popular. The playwright Mark Medoff also wrote the screenplay for this movie. The film and source play's "Children of a Lesser God" title is derived from the twelfth chapter of Alfred Lord Tennysons "Idylls of the King" cycle of twelve narrative poems.The screenplay is both simple and complex. Hollywood is full of love stories where there isn't really no humor and the drama feels forced. Here it all feels real. It feels like real life. The characters are well written and the conflicts the face are completely natural and believable. It's interesting that the movie starts like one of those movies about inspiring teacher , but slowly turns into wonderful melodrama. There are many scenes involving Hurt's work with the deaf children and they are good , but it's the love story that counts the most. The screenplay rightfully deserved the Oscar nominee.The chemistry between Hurt and Matlin is brilliant. It's not strange , because they really felt in love with each other while making "COLG". They even lived together for few months after movie was finished and it's a sad thing that it didn't last. When you watch the movie you can see perhaps the most authentic romance I've ever seen in cinema.Marlee Matlin is spectacular in here. You could say it's a kind of cheat for deaf person to play def person. It doesn't change the fact that she is wonderful . I've never thought that a sound of hand clapping other hand might be chilling (watch the movie – you will know what scene I'm talking about). Matlin is able to say so much with her hands or face . The only time she speaks it's truly heartbreaking.William Hurt is in the shadow of Matlin , since he got the less interesting role. Still , he is great. He always was a master of subtlety and this movie is no exception. His character also changes and suffers during the movie. His also one of the best inspirational teachers in history of cinema.Piper Laurie has not too much screen time , but beautifully makes a complex character of Sarah's mother. In hands of less skilled actress it would be a cliché character and trivial performance . Laurie gives the audience a character who isn't black or white and quite possible the one they could relate to the most.The movie is very well directed by Randa Haines , which is surprising since it's her movie debut. Yet she never allows the movie to be too sentimental or manipulative with the viewer's emotions. The mix of humor and drama is perfect. The movie is also quite well photographed, the beauty of New Brunswick coast makes you wanna go there.Some people are complaining that the movie is too noisy for a film about deafness , that there aren't any scenes that use silence. I don't really see a need for that. The use of sign language feels natural here. The subtitles would be distracting in my opinion. The movie does justice to deaf people portraying them as real people with ambitions , passions and desires , not like poor cripples.This is a beautiful movie about acceptance , finding yourself and emotional growth. This is what love should be. Find out if the world of sound and world of silence can meet. I give it 9/10.

Boy meets girl; boy (unfairly) loses girl; and after assorted trials and tribulations the two are blissfully reunited. The standard romantic formula hasn't changed, but here it benefits from a unique perspective: he can hear, she can't. William Hurt is the overconfident teacher of deaf students trying to convince Marlee Matlin (against her better judgment) that silence isn't golden, and the tensions of attraction between them make for an often absorbing romantic drama. Oddly enough the film, so otherwise sympathetic to the needs of the hearing impaired, is top heavy with verbal rather than visual expression. Notable exceptions (disregarding the obvious aquatic sex sequence: only in a movie can people undress with such ease and grace underwater) include the scene in which Hurt becomes the odd man out at a party conducted in sign language, and a later moment when he unwinds to the music of Bach while Matlin site alone and oblivious in the background. Considering the logistical problems of the scenario (for example how to communicate to an uneducated audience a conversation held entirely in sign language) the film is nevertheless an uncomplicated tearjerker that hides its stage origins well. The partially deaf Matlin is impressive in her debut, while Hurt performs like an actor self-consciously aware of the camera's presence, affecting an artificial naturalness which he drops only during the more fiery lover's quarrels, when the couple shows just how passionate and expressive hands and faces can be.