"Bellier Family" is extremely unique through sign language and actions, and also presents people with the tangle and warmth within a family, as well as the process of a child growing up.
I have to say that the three actors who play the deaf-mute in "The Baileys" are really outstanding in their acting skills. Sometimes, their movements are almost physically exaggerated, but you don't feel contrived at all. At the middle point of having to show strong emotions and expressing comedy through big movements, it must be in line with reality. How difficult is it? You can experience it by watching a movie.
Yes, this movie is about disabled people, but it's a group of happy disabled people with no sense of inferiority. They are even happier than most "normal people", and more importantly, they are not that kind of Pretending to be strong and happy.
Both the Belliers and their sons are hearing-impaired, and only daughter Paula is healthy. Therefore, the communication between the family and outsiders basically relies on her daughter's sign language interpretation. The Baileys were farmers and lived an idyllic life, raising cattle and making cheese. One day, a music teacher discovered Paula's singing talent and began to encourage her to participate in singing competitions and to study in Paris. But once the daughter leaves, the lives of the other three may change dramatically. On the one hand, the parents are worried that their life will become inconvenient, but on the other hand, they are really reluctant to let their daughter fly away.
Family, growth, youth, dreams and reality, all these classic movie elements and genres are all included in this movie. Most films dealing with people with disabilities either describe their suffering or celebrate their resilience, whichever way they are, in fact, focus on showing the "heterogeneity" of this group of people. Unlike "The Belliers", the three hearing-impaired people only regarded their disability as a "feature", or a physiological "reality" from the very beginning. Never had inferiority complex, and never had to win sympathy. This kind of character has laid the foundation for the cuteness of these people.
They work like ordinary people, earn a living, enjoy small troubles and enjoy themselves. Even when the mayor of the small city where they are located, because he is dissatisfied with the current candidate, his father, who is deaf, carefully prepares to run for election. Daughter Paula reminded him, "You can't speak." The father gestured jokingly, "Obama looks so dark, he still becomes president." The daughter said, "That's different." The father and daughter laughed together. They ride in a cute toy-like excavator, driving under the sunset on their farm.
The first half of the film has been suggestive with a warm and calm perspective, that such a life seems to go on forever. But when the daughter's talent is discovered, people will know that the second half of the film is all about choices. My daughter is a bit introverted, but singing makes her confident and happy. Originally, she treated her parents like all adolescent children, feeling that they were close and annoying, but when she found out that she really wanted to leave the family, it was the first time she realized how much her parents needed her as a disabled person. In the end, should I pursue my dream or be a good daughter, this choice began to become cruel.
Parents must face this major change. They also began to play childish tempers, expressing some anger deliberately, trying to make their daughter change her mind. Eventually, they figured it out. A daughter has her own life, and her future should not be tied to the fate of her parents. The search for an uncertain future is a necessary process for a person to grow up. It is the deepest love that parents can give to their daughters to leave their hometown with confidence.
The undertones of everyone in "The Belliers" are happy and positive. Although they also have to face the helplessness in their lives, they never complain about others. This is the main reason why this movie is so moving. There is no need to say much about the happiness of the parents. The adolescent son also did not feel inferior because of his deaf-mute defect. He still wanted to get close to the girl and joke with others. He even thought of taking advantage of the opportunity to teach others sign language to make out with a girl. You won't feel wretched at all, but you will see the cuteness of an adolescent boy. There are no famous actors in the movie, and they conquer the audience entirely by their acting skills and precise control of emotions.
On the field, her daughter sings and tells her parents in sign language the meaning of the lyrics in sign language. In that scene, few people are not moved. She finally sang and left her hometown, no matter whether she succeeded or not, she will have no more regrets. In this sense, the departure of the daughter has completed an extension of this "crippled" family, the daughter has completed the impossible for the parents, and it has also completed a complete emotional closure. She is far away, still with the family.
(Text / Yang Shiyang)
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