Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Yesterday I watched Children of a Lesser God, starring Marlee Matlin and William Hurt. I had wanted to see this movie since I watched Matlin’s Oscar acceptance speech for the role on YouTube while waiting for my roommate who takes approximately two hours to get dressed. This film, directed by Randa Haines, tells an intense story about Sarah, a deaf woman who works as a janitor at a deaf school, and James, a hearing man who teaches at the school. Matlin does a great job playing Sarah, an angry badass who won’t let James into her world for a long time. The two fall in love but the fact that James can hear and Sarah cannot (even though James can sign very well) creates tension and drama. James wants Sarah to learn how to speak but Sarah doesn’t want to learn or conform to a practice that isn’t natural for her. This difference in opinion leads to many an emotional conversation and in Sarah’s case, many opportunities to leave the scene by storming out and slamming a door.

This is a fun moment when Sarah decided to dance in the middle of a restaurant and James just stands watching awkwardly.

In general I really liked the movie. There were some moments of confusion that I experienced, particularly the pool scene. Some thoughts that entered my mind were: why is Sarah just casually swimming nakedin the school pool at night? How does a person just forget his shoe in a pool? Did he think no on was  going to find it? Didn’t he need the shoe? I also had trouble working out how much time had passed between scenes but that may have just been because I was so distracted and angered by the pool scene.

I found comparing James’ and Sarah’s distinct perspectives the most interesting and exciting part of the movie.  The movie came out in 1986, so definitely look forward to some interesting hair and wardrobe choices. This movie is definitely more on the serious side. I didn’t cry this time around but I feel like it could happen. There are also some very emotionally charged couple fights which I enjoyed. Children of a Lesser God is a good choice if you want to watch something that keeps you thinking after it ends.

My rating: 7/10

Trailer:

Her (2013)

I finally saw Her while in DC for the day. I had wanted to see it for a long time and finally found myself inside the theater sitting in front of a big family of tourists who must have gotten bored. In general I really enjoyed the movie. Joaquin Phoenix was great, and I couldn’t help wondering what it must have been like to film so many solitary scenes and still making it believable. The plot revolves around Theodore Twombly, an emotional man who falls in love with his operating system, Samantha. They live in a world slightly more modern and updated than ours, and Samantha has thoughts and feelings and is able to learn a lot very quickly. This type of movie could have fallen very flat, especially because on the surface it’s about a man who falls in love with his computer. The convincing acting and pure display of emotions challenged ideas about the possibilities of love and legitimacy of intimacy with unordinary people (or operating systems).

Best friends Theodore and Amy (Amy Adams) chatting about rude video games and ex-lovers.

While it showed the ability to connect with a non-human, yet understanding and intelligent being, the movie also presented many scenes of people completely engrossed with their technology. Theodore works for a company that writes handwritten letters (that aren’t actually handwritten or original) for their clients, so that even the most traditional and emotional form of communication (at least in my opinion) is tainted by technology and a third party. Her, directed by Spike Jonze, had an amazing cast that definitely helped the movie succeed. Amy Adams and Rooney Mara along with Phoenix did a great job of showing different sides of real people amidst all the technology and operating systems in the movie. Scarlett Johansson was the voice actor for Samantha, and despite complaints that her voice was too recognizable I appreciated her raspy contribution.

Theodore spinning around like a madman IN LOVE

I definitely emerged from the movie with different conclusions, and have since changed my mind a few times. At first I felt that the movie challenged traditional relationships and proposed legitimate intimacy in unorthodox places, which it does. On the other hand, though, the ending also seemed to suggest that eventually a relationship with technology can and will inevitably fail for a variety of reasons. I haven’t really sorted everything out here in case you couldn’t tell, so I will instead talk about the subtle but entertaining fashion in the movie. Every man dawns a mustache and these weird little cloth pants that I actually really liked. They reminded me of these gray slacks that I would wear as my uniform in Catholic school. Everyone has a little earpiece to chat with their OS systems, which while extremely antisocial also seemed pretty fun. Go see the movie! It’s not too happy and not too sad, so it’s perfect for a rainy or sunny day. I watched it on a cloudy day with a milkshake that I smuggled into the theater in case you want the same experience I had.

My rating: 8/10