It is never easy to remake a work, especially if your remake has achieved a certain success before, if the remake does not respond well, the critics may think that the previous work is the pearl and jade, and the remake has a leather photo and a gourd painting. Follow every example, if the shooting result is not good, it will be a tragedy for the photographer.
But at last year's Sundance Film Festival, a remake received good reviews on both IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, with an IMDB score of 8.1, a Rotten Tomatoes index of 96%, and an audience index of 93%, some of which surpassed the original. And I personally think that it has given the film and television industry and society very good hints and inspirations in discussing disadvantaged groups, which is the film we are going to discuss today——
Listening Girl (CODA)
01
As mentioned earlier, "The Listening Girl" is a remake. The original is the well-received French film "The Belliers". Although the original script is very good, director and screenwriter Sian Heder is still in the original story framework. Write your own story well.
Although Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) is an ordinary girl, she is also a special member of a family whose father Frank (Troy Kotsur), mother Jackie (Marlee Matlin) and brother Leo (Daniel Durant) are all Hearing impaired. Every day she has to help the family work on the family fishing boat.
It is true that the pressure faced by such a family environment in school can be imagined, and it has also caused Ruby to feel inferior to a certain extent and dare not face the boy she has a crush on.
In an after-school activity, in order to be with the boy she likes Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo), Ruby accidentally chooses the choir of music teacher V (Eugenio Derbez), who discovers her good voice and musical talent , to encourage her to pursue her hobbies and dreams more confidently.
In the subsequent choir arrangement, Teacher V (the reincarnation of the old man of the moon) made Ruby and Miles the duet partner for the end of the semester performance, and asked them to practice together (the teacher can only do this).
At the same time, my father and brother were also distressed by the unreasonable oppression of the fishermen by the local fishing association, but they were unable to better understand their demands and thoughts because of their deaf-mute status. At an industry meeting, father stands up against greedy industry leaders, unites other local fishermen for industry collaboration
It seems like a good story, but as the only able-bodied person in the family, Ruby is forced to be responsible for the family's huge business plan, serving as her father's sign language interpreter, as well as being responsible for various day-to-day matters such as external communication.
Teacher V persuaded Ruby to interview for Berklee College of Music because of her musical talent, and was very considerate to provide her with one-person tutoring. However, due to family changes, it is difficult for her to balance study and life. All this finally broke out after an emergency.
After a day at work, mother Jackie asked Ruby to stay and help the family as a sign language interpreter as usual, because there was a local news station to interview the family and Ruby needed to support the family as always.
On the other hand, Teacher V's patience has also reached its limit.
Finally, after this lateness, the teacher canceled the one-person tutoring with Ruby.
Exhausted Ruby came home and finally realized that she needed to solve this problem with her family, but the attitude of her parents made her express her true feelings for the first time, and she did not want to be a free sign language interpreter forever.
The next day, Ruby went wild with Miles in a fit of anger, and I understand Ruby's mentality at this time (what can I do if I just fish for a day).
Murphy's Law never lets us down, and things always happen when we expect the worst.
During this trip to the sea, on the one hand, my father and brother had to undergo random inspections and bring along the supervisor of the Fisheries Association. At the same time, because Ruby was absent, they did not hear the radio calls and sirens of the Coast Guard, resulting in fines for illegal fishing. The government requires them to have a hearing person on board, otherwise they will not be allowed to work at sea again.
Ruby, who blamed herself, said that she would no longer consider going to college. Her parents were very happy about this, but her brother Leo was very angry, thinking that Ruby should believe that as a big brother, he could solve the family's problems.
Later, Ruby's family participated in the choir's end-of-year performance. Although they couldn't hear the content of the performance, they could feel their daughter's performance was very good from the expressions of the people around them.
Here's a minute that I personally like very much, when Ruby and Miles are performing, all the sound effects are gone, just to simulate the feeling of the hearing impaired. We speak and express recklessly in a movie discussing hearing-impaired people, but this moment restores the problems faced by the hearing-impaired people. In their eyes, the feelings and information that we are accustomed to are another form of unease and panic Source: (Normal people) What are they thinking, why do they make such an expression, and what should I do to appear as "normal".
After the performance, her father Frank asked Ruby to sing the song she sang today again, and at the same time felt Ruby's singing with his hands. At that moment, Frank seemed to hear the music too.
The next day, the family unanimously decided to send Ruby to Berkeley for an audition.
At the same time, Teacher V also came to help, as Ruby's accompaniment.
Eventually, Ruby sings her chosen song ( Both Sides, Now ) with sign language accompaniment, expressing her feelings to her family.
02
"Hearing Girl" is a simple story in structure. I think it can be said that it is a story about a girl who gets rid of the previous family's restrictions on herself (objective rather than forced) and gradually becomes independent and realizes her own wishes and values. However, due to the setting of the heroine "sound people in a hearing-impaired family", the story itself is worthy of discussion and attention, and the theme of the story has more practical significance.
Compared with the French (original) version of "The Belliers", I think "The Hearing Girl" is more about thinking and exploring the way of life and social interaction of marginalized people through the role of Ruby. "Berry's Family" had previously played the role of the hearing-impaired by ordinary actors, except for the younger brother in the family (the older brother in "Hearing Girl") who is a true hearing-impaired. Home believes this is another way of mocking the hearing-impaired population.
In "Hearing Girl", not only all the hearing-impaired characters are played by hearing-impaired actors, but even all the professionals who serve as sign language interpreters on the scene are members of hearing-impaired families from hearing-impaired families, which not only makes the actors more natural The devoted performance also realizes the social values and social issues that the film itself hopes to convey. How can we better and respectfully discuss the vulnerable/disabled groups participating in social activities as well as able-bodied people? Are able-bodied people obliged to actively integrate into the society of hearing-impaired people and understand their needs?
Interestingly, the funders of "Hearing Girl" did not decide at the beginning that all the main actors should be deaf actors, but the director first determined Marlee Matlin, who plays the mother Jackie in the movie, and Marlee said that if all the deaf characters were deaf If you don't use deaf actors, you will also resign yourself. At the same time, with the reasoning of director Heder, we can finally see the wonderful performance of deaf actors in the play.
And Marlee also relied on his influence in the Deaf West Theatre (a non-profit arts organization based in Los Angeles) to find the actor Troy Kotsur of his father Franck and the actor Daniel Durant of his brother Leo, and made great contributions to the successful performance of the film. .
The original meaning of the film's original name CODA is Child of Deaf Adults, that is, children from hearing-impaired families. Generally speaking, it refers to healthy children in hearing-impaired families who do not have hearing problems. Just like Both Side and Now, which Ruby finally sang in the movie, they are also cross-border existences. Although they do not have the same issues of identity and identity as mixed-race groups, immigrants, and second-generation immigrants, they are undoubtedly migrants who are wandering in the silent and sound world, and it is difficult for them to be a complete mainstream group in both family and society. , especially in the adolescent stage, they are more likely to face school bullying or career choice problems, which are well reflected in the movie. This is also one of the places where the film "Hearing Girl" does a good job of revealing and discussing social topics in addition to its artistry.
03
Hats off to all the actors in the movie.
First up is star Emilia Jones, who spent nine months mastering the American Sign Language system, taking vocal lessons and operating a fishing boat for the film.
It was a success indeed, the sign language performance looked very proficient, the song (in the movie) was ok, at least the boat didn't overturn.
As an actor born in 2000, Emilia's performance in the film looks very natural, especially in several conflict scenes that reflect the tangle and tear of the character itself. In the beginning of the plot, in order to reflect the lack of self-confidence in front of the school and the crush, the slight hunchback reflects the influence of family pressure on her, and reflects a young man who dare not imagine and pursue his own ideals in life because of his family background. girl.
Followed by the actors Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin as parents, no matter in "Berry's Family" or "Listening Girl", stable family relationship is the driving force and guarantee to promote the development of the plot and the daughter's pursuit of dreams in the play, The core of stability is the good relationship between the hearing-impaired parents. In addition to showing a good family environment and loving husband and wife feelings, the two also played their talents well in the limited scenes that reflected their performance skills. Troy scolded the leaders of the industry association and Marlee expressed remorse that he even hoped that his daughter was also deaf (worrying that a normal daughter might not be close to him), both of which showed the emotional undertones of the character itself. Troy is currently shortlisted for Best Supporting Performance (Drama, Musical and Comedy) at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, although I don't think he'll have a hard time with Cody Smith-McPhee in "Canine Power" There should be more opportunities to express yourself in the future.
Finally, about the role of the older brother, the role of Daniel Durant's older brother is the one that has changed the most among the main characters. Because the younger brother in "The Belliers" is a minor, he does not have a lot of involvement in family life, but is a participant. But Leo, played by Daniel, lives in the shadow of his sister to a certain extent in "The Listening Girl". There are multiple plots in the movie that Leo, the elder brother, hopes to take on family responsibilities, including through better mastery of lip language to help families communicate in business. He also hopes that Ruby can leave the family to pursue her dreams, so that she can achieve her own pursuit and independence to a certain extent.
The wonderful performances of the three main hearing-impaired actors also reflect the discussion of the theme of the film. When we ignore the demands of hearing-impaired people and pay attention to their lives as usual, they can also contribute to the field of sound people. If we produce wonderful works and make positive contributions to the society, do we have an obligation to cooperate with the lives of disabled groups or create more convenience for their lives?
Or go further, whether the currently generally recognized able-bodied people are really healthy in a social sense, poor, poorly educated, elderly or other people who cannot really actively participate in all aspects of social life for various reasons, mainstream groups Has the help, understanding and recognition for them really reached or reached the threshold of helping them live a normal life?
04
I think "Hearing Girl" is a work that is both artistic, commercial (Apple TV paid $25 million for the distribution rights to the film) and social. But in this case, there are still some reviews that sounded unkind to the film.
Although most critics and audiences have also made positive comments on the work, according to USA Today, some hearing-impaired groups praised the casting of the hearing-impaired actors and their performances for breaking the previous image and bringing the hearing-impaired. People are portrayed as self-sufficient, sexually active, and very popular. Delbert Whetter, vice president of nonprofit Respect Ability, said: "After seeing so many stories of people with disabilities portraying people with disabilities as homeless and lost in need of rescue, look no further than this one that portrays hearing characters as small business owners and fishing communities. Leadership, really refreshing, with depth and nuance that rivals or surpasses other stories of its kind.” ( https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2021/08/17/coda-movie-deaf -communities-praise-criticize-new-film-apple-tv/5550394001/ )
But writer Jenna Beacom felt that much of the film was "underrepresented, especially the ability of the hearing-impaired to develop their talents and abilities in 2021," and she was concerned about the film's negative portrayal of the experience of hearing-impaired people and their children. Beacom, herself a hearing-impaired parent of a singer, believes the film's assumption of hearing people as "incapable of enjoying music or understanding other people's happiness" is unfounded. "Music aside, I think the stories of first-generation college students are fascinating anyway, and no matter what she's studying, I don't think we need music to write interesting stories," she said.
The reason why this negative comment was taken is still to discuss the topic of the previous article, if such a film that discusses the life of the hearing impaired (I think the silence in the auditorium is one of the most thought-provoking scenes in the film) still If the hearing-impaired people think that there are negative descriptions, how much passive discrimination and pressure do disadvantaged or disabled groups face in their daily life?
05
Some viewers think that "The Listening Girl" is a simple conception of chicken soup for the soul. Some of the characters' mood changes are too abrupt, and there are still too many elements in the film. But I think whether it is the career development of the hearing-impaired people in the film or the school bullying faced by the CODA group, or even the emotional line of the heroine is not the focus of the whole film, if the director clarifies all the storylines in the film, it is very important It may cause the focus of the movie itself to be scattered. After all, the movie is not a sandbox game, and it is impossible to reasonably promote all the details that the audience wants to pay attention to in a certain space.
I think "Hearing Girl" reflects the director's gentle directing ability in terms of plot setting, actors' performance and soundtrack. The casting and performance of the actors all reflect the strong will of the hearing-impaired people to express to the society. For the hearing-impaired group, the music theme with the strongest sense of conflict can best reflect the appeal and urgency of dialogue between them and the society. I hope that Director Heder can bring more such films with artistic delicacy and ideological depth to the audience. Hunger for more.
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