Beyond Silence

It's no surprise that this enjoyably schmaltzy German drama, about a musical prodigy and her relationship with her deaf parents, scored a nomination for Best Foreign Film early last year--its particular brand of filial sturm und drang couldn't be more to the relevant committee's taste. "Hey, now wait a minute!" I hear you exclaim with what sounds to me like a touch of practiced cynicism. "Like, yo, if her parents are deaf, then they can't exactly appreciate her talent, now can they?" But it's neither as hackneyed nor as schematic as it sounds...partially because director Caroline Link never condescends to her characters or their TV-movie dilemmas; but mostly because halfway through the film the daughter abruptly ages from about eight to about eighteen, and the role is taken over by one Ms. Sylvie Testud, one of the most effortlessly beguiling screen presences in recent memory. Her quietly charismatic performance carries the film over any number of rough spots--though not, I hasten to add, over the unspeakably corny denouement, in which estranged parent and child reconcile in the midst of an important audition. (In real life, she'd be frantically signing "Piss off, Dad, I'm kinda busy here.") Optional. (M. D'Angelo)