Saw this movie again this evening and just have to write something about it...
I first saw this movie when I was an undergrad. The movie brings up issues between hearing/deaf parents with deaf/hearing children which relates to my own experience so well. My brother went to a special school for deaf students because he is completely deaf in his right ear and has residual hearing in his left. From hanging out with his friends and volunteering in deaf events, I had observed some real-life cases like what was depicted in the movie. In my own case, my mom never picked up the sign language because my brother can sort of speak. She also doesn't like my brother hanging out with his deaf friends too much. I have always suspected that the reason is she thinks he is better than them (completely deaf) and also because of her biased association of deaf community and crime. I felt really lucky that because my brother I get to know this silent world and through sign language I get to have some ideas of the other world.
There were two scenes from the movie which touch me deeply. One is the deaf father asking the hearing daughter what falling snow sounds like. She told him snow makes the world even quieter.
The other is when the father found out the daughter was going away from other people and was disappointed and hurt. He told the daughter "sometimes I wish you are deaf, so you will be totally in my world."
The music is another plus for this movie. I have had the sound track for almost ten years. When I used to work for the Taroko National Park in Taiwan, I liked driving into the gorges, listening to the music with all the windows down. It felt SO good.
(picture from www.imdb.com)
must-stops for any cities.
He travelled around the area and fell for a local girl. The movie focuses a lot on the romance but I was amazed more by the village depicted by the movie.
At the beginning of the winter break, I came up with an idea about how I can make this break a if-not-productive-at-least-a-different break. I went to the public library and picked several foreign movies with various topics thinking I would see other part of the world through the movies. It was a good idea but all of the movies seemed to full of sadness and struggling from the caption/cover. I didn't watch any of them until the date they were due. After watching "Beyond silence", I decided to keep all the films and give me/them a chance. I am glad I did. Truly. After sharing "America-centered" world view most of my life, I found these films intriguing. I have travelled a lot. I really did. But now I just realized that I might have learned more profoundly through these movies 
than all the trips I made, combined. It feels like when I travel, I am like a director filming the places I visit. I only shot the scenes I could find or what I was interested in. Through films by other directors, the same land, the same people might tell a completely different story. The film tells some real stories without bringing too much overt sadness but still made me quiet.
