Deaf

CinemaSerf

Potter “Ángela” (Miriam Garlo) lives with “Hector” (Álvaro Cervantes) and is expecting their baby. She is deaf, something she acquired in childhood, and he a hearing man - and so with the arrival of their baby looming they are concerned about whether it will hear or not. Luckily, it is born able to hear ok - or at least that’s everyone’s initial reaction, but as the child grows up and associates with her own hearing family and her dad, “Ángela” begins to feel alone, ostracised, and occasionally vulnerable as she tries to lead a normal life of parenting in a world that rarely appreciates that she cannot hear what they are saying. Garlo delivers strongly here and the story certainly has a lot of valid points to make, but I found Cervantes to be rather weak and the narrative a bit confused - at times even melodramatic. This film seems to prefer to contrive situations, especially during the protracted childbirth scene and subsequently between the couple, that seem more designed to accentuate her/their difficulties than necessarily ring true for a supposedly well-established and loving couple. It does shine a powerful light on issues around awareness and integration but as a drama, it fell short for me. It’s worth a watch, but I felt it laboured it’s point and undercooked it’s characters.