Beyond Silence (1996 film)

Jenseits der Stille
Film poster
Directed by	Caroline Link
Written by	Caroline Link Beth Serlin
Produced by	Jakob Claussen Thomas Wöbke Luggi Waldleitner
Starring	Sylvie Testud Howie Seago Emmanuelle Laborit Sibylle Canonica Matthias Habich Hansa Czypionka Tatjana Trieb
Cinematography	Gernot Roll
Edited by	Patricia Rommel
Music by	Niki Reiser
Release date	19 December 1996 (1996-12-19)
Running time	112 minutes
Country	Germany
Languages	German German Sign Language
Box office	$11.5 million[1]

Beyond Silence (German: Jenseits der Stille) is a 1996 German film directed by Caroline Link. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards.^[2]

Plot[edit]

The film tells the story of Lara, who grows up as the daughter of deaf parents, Martin and Kai. Lara herself is hearing and is fluent in sign language. Even as a young child, she serves as an interpreter for her parents in many situations, such as credit negotiations at the bank as well as her own parent–teacher conference, although not always completely truthfully.

Lara receives a clarinet for Christmas from Clarissa, her father's sister and an enthusiastic musician. Lara discovers the world of music, where her parents cannot follow her. In the years that follow, she is discovered to be a talented clarinet player. When 18-year-old Lara wants to study at a music conservatory in Berlin, the family seems to break apart. Lara finds love in Berlin with a teacher of deaf children.

After Kai is killed in a bicycle accident, Lara's grieving father feels abandoned. Lara bounces from her family home, to her aunt's, to her uncle's before returning to her childhood home. The ending seems to reconcile it all: Martin tries to understand the love of music that his daughter feels, and the film comes to a careful reunion between him and Lara.

Cast[edit]

Reviews[edit]

Beyond Silence has an 83% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[3]

• "A successful film debut of a graduate of the Munich Film Academy. The film is a sensible presentation of the problem of the handicapped as well as the universal theme of the self discovery of a young woman and the plea for understanding and openness about seemingly disproportionate experiences." (film-dienst 25/1996)
• "Whoever would like to find out how loud the snow is and how the sounds of a clarinet can enchant people, should not allow themselves to miss this film: a German production which takes up extraordinary themes across the relationship-comedy and tells the story about saying goodbye to one's childhood with gentle humor and an idiosyncratic aesthetic." (Fischer Film Almanach, 1997)
• "A film that allows silence to become music and has found strength in the balance between laughing and crying, happiness and pain. "Jenseits der Stille" is memorable among German productions, and excellently cast. (Dirk Jasper FilmLexikon)
• "Thanks to good casting for all roles and assured acting performances under its direction, this [film is] a successful journey into the world of the deaf, with all its problems of social integration and family conflict." (FBW Langfilme)

Accolades[edit]

See also[edit]

• List of submissions to the 70th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of German submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of films featuring the deaf and hard of hearing
• Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Indian film with similar plot.^[4]

References[edit]

Book[edit]

• Link, Caroline (2001). Jenseits der Stille. Berlin: Aufbau. ISBN 978-3-7466-1453-3.

External links[edit]

• Ungewöhnliche Dreharbeiten - Bayerischer Rundfunk
• Filmeintrag auf omdb.org with underground information
• Beyond Silence at IMDb