I am very selective in
watching films. This is particularly so during Film Festivals. As a principle, I view only
three films on a
single day and in extreme
cases view four with a gap
for rest between films.
Normally, I choose the films to watch by reading the Handbook supplied prior to the Film Festival. The one which
concluded recently (27th International Film Festival of
Kerala 9-16 Dec 2022) was no different.
The
first film I chose to view was Life in Silence.(La Vida En El Silencio)
Mexico/2022/Colour/125’/Spanish
Director
and Screenplay: Rodrigo Arnaz
Sometimes films are chosen based on earlier reviews which I have
read, awards won previously, and of course the name of the Director. In this case however it was the summary which lured me to watch the film. The summary in
the Handbook reads:
“A young
musician who is a single parent battles everyday to communicate with his autistic son through music, until one day
the kid’s mother shows up after eight years of absence, only
to reveal that he is not the kid’s
biological father.”
I
must admit that it
was my background in Education as a
discipline and the relationship
between music and communication which made me
choose the film for viewing.
But after watching the film, I
found that the summary did not capture
the essence of the film so I thought
I should write about it. So here
goes:
A devout
father patiently looks after
his autistic son who only communicates by uttering
the sound “aaannnnn” in a high pitch voice. For the father, each day is a struggle
in trying to bathe/dress and feed the boy. The child is sent to a
special school where lucky for the
father, an understanding Special Education teacher takes
care of the child.
There is
one scene in which the
father meets an old
lady who adores the child and father. I guess it is either the man’s mother or elderly aunt (?) The father asks :
Don’t you think that my son sees me only as a robot that feeds him every day? To this the elderly lady who
is very understanding by nature, replies
that even though the boy doesn’t
talk he
feels everything!
The
father is a musician but does not have a steady job. He plays
live music in several restaurants to earn a living. But unable to
pay for the tuition fee, the son is
kicked out of school.
One day
while feeling low, the
father plays on the piano an adored
possession which he has in his home. The
son is rarely receptive to music, and on
that particular day the child seats himself beside his father and plays
just one key ‘G’ continuously at regular
intervals. This the father
notices and tries to catch the boy’s attention by
playing other keys during the intervals thereby creating a musical note. But sadly for the boy, the
sound it produces when he presses
the key or utters ‘aaannnnn’ is the sole
thing that matters. The rest for the father and the viewer is
nothing but ‘silence’.
So what is the message of the film? The father was trying to add
interesting aspects of life
for the boy when it remains
silent even though the father’s own life is full of silence as he has to take care of an autistic
child after being ditched by his wife.
Perhaps
the film
was indirectly giving the message that
it up to us to add variety to a
life in silence. As an extension I would like to add that the Smart Phone we all have access to and without which it is hard to
live is like the piano that
provides music. When one
opens ones Facebook page one gets
addicted to it . But the Smart Phone also has other apps, for news, for games, for learning a new language, for entertainment
and what not…If one discreetly chooses the different apps (Keys for Piano) one
gets a variety of input!
But it is up to individuals to choose how to add variety to
the input available on ones Smart Phone…In short one has to choose discreetly.
The
child acted so well and deserves an award. The message of the film thrilled me… Hope you too will like the film. Do watch the
official trailer to get a feel of the film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvJcY38-rwk&ab_channel=PrimeVideoM%C3%A9xico
