Friday, July 25, 2014

Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)


Directed by Werner Herzog
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Shout! Factory)

A woman who has been deaf and blind since an early childhood accident travels around Germany to meet and help others with the same fate. They communicate with the outside world by a complex sign language which utilizes tapping on the palm and fingers of the hand. Some can talk, although our host is probably the most eloquent one. Others, though, live in a lonely, isolated world, tucked away in asylums or mental hospitals. She takes them on trips to the zoo where they feed elephants or play with a chimpanzee. At one point we meet several people who were born deaf-blind, and their situations are even more desperate. An emotional journey that is both inspiring and unnerving.

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