The Sounding

The Sounding is a brave film about resistance: resistance to conformity, to conventionality, to the expectations of the dominant culture and its narratives about normality and sanity and the kinds of lives we're allowed to pursue without the cultural enforcers, including the medical establishment and the state, coming down to set us straight via medication and even incarceration. So long as we speak the exoburban language of consumption and self and reaction and generally behave, chances are good we'll be left alone. But, if, one day, we lose faith in conventional discourse and subvert it by beginning to speak . . . Shakespeare, well, all bets are off.

Catherine Eaton is mesmerizing as Liv, a young woman who, on a windswept island off the Maine coast, has chosen to remain silent for years. Eventually, she begins to speak again, but in an English composed entirely of Shakespeare's words. That's when the assault on her freedom begins. She must be protected, mustn't she? Surely, she must be normalized, the cause of her anomalous behavior diagnosed, and a path to "recovery" prescribed and followed. Surely she must give up her resistance to those who would help her. Surely.

Ms. Eaton both directs the film and delivers a masterful, haunting, and powerful performance as Liv. The cinematography is breathtaking — the Maine coast is difficult to get wrong, but its desolate, Novemberish beauty is a poignant setting for Liv's struggle to be free and live an authentic life as she imagines it. Eaton has written that the film is ultimately about "otherness" and its cost. It couldn't come at a more propitious moment than the present that is witnessing a demonization of the foreign Other who presents such a vulnerable scapegoat onto which too many Americans are projecting their anxiety and insecurity. It will be a great benefit for this film to be available for all Americans to see and think about.

This film is one of the finest examples of a new filmmakers finding their voice and fully exploring the medium of film. With a screenplay by Catherine Eaton and Bryan Delaney, a creative and engaging plot and extraordinary performances from Ms. Eaton and the well- chosen ensemble cast including a fine supporting performance from Harris Yulin, this film leads one down unexpected paths and challenges your thinking about relationships, standards of normalcy and language. What is most intriguing about the film is it's wonderful use of cinematic language in the evocative landscape in which the story evolves and the wonderful faces of the ensemble. Well chosen aspects and enticing shots lead the audience into this unusual world of artists, not depending on dialogue alone but allowing the film to speak for itself. It creates a fascinating amalgam of incidents, relationships and solitude which linger in the memory long after the film is over. A really excellent first outing for this creative team!

Look, very rarely do filmmakers and storytellers take huge risks in an attempt to take an audience into new territory...The Sounding is as much about that risk as it is about an intriguing, complex woman who plumbs the recesses of grief and genius. There are few perfect films, but what really matters is years from now will you still be thinking about it? This is one of those works who will resonate long after the lights have gone up in the theater and the remote control click has turned the screen off at home. A true achievement!

"The Sounding" starts with the highly original premise of a woman who speaks only in Shakespearian quotations. From there, it delves into a fearless examination of communication, cognition, and resolving one's truth with the presumptions of society. An outstanding lead turn by writer/director Catherine Eaton makes this a must-see. Admirers of Frank and Eleanor Perry's "David and Lisa" take note.

The beauty of this film is it's ability to viscerally illuminate the struggles and triumphs we all encounter, at one point or another, to communicate. It touches deeply on how fragile and sublime life is. The story arc traces how difficult it can be to be clear about one's intentions, 'words' and actions, and how when we are not so clear, it can cause harm, despite our good intentions. Eaton's grounding in the Dharma becomes evident through her gentle yet strong performance as well as the film's allegiance to the core truth that all being's inherent qualities are kind and compassionate, even though we may be temporarily covered in a dirty cloth.