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There are certain minorities that are not often represented in films, and the deaf is one of these groups. It is fascinating to watch this film, as it provides an insight into working with the deaf, and trying to make it so they can cope in a world full of noises. William Hurt gives off a very naturalistic performance, managing to add eccentricity to his role without overdoing it, and his acting also includes having to sign naturally. Even though it seems like an audience pleaser to have him translate out loud everything that Marlee Matlin is saying, it is still a credible performance. Matlin is also very good, deaf in real life, and she won an Oscar for her role. The film is let down however by the choice of a generic plot structure. The impending character relationships and storyline are very predictable, although the screenplay has some interesting ideas to keep it afloat. A lot of the film is concerned with being able to accept a person for who he or she is, and whether one should adjust one's ways or having others adjust for them. It is a good film, and has careful sound mixing work too. Matlin's constant anger is perhaps not realistic, and it is very easy to see where the film is going, but these points do not stop it from being effective viewing and good film-making in general.

James (William Hurt) is a new speech teacher at a school for the deaf. He falls for Sarah (Marlee Matlin), a pupil who decided to stay on at the school rather than venture into the big bad world. She shuns him at first, refusing to read his lips and only using signs. Will her feelings change over time? Every so often a different sort of love story comes along. This is one of those, featuring a deaf woman and a man who wants to be her teacher (and more). It is interesting, and one has to wonder how deaf people react to it. Is this a compassionate and understanding film, or is it exploiting the deaf community? Certainly it seems that the intentions were good.

Marlee Matlin is excellent, and it's nice to see she was honored for her role. I mean, I guess it's not a huge stretch to play a deaf woman, but it was probably an emotional role for her, knowing she was representing a great many people.

Hollywood is full of overly wrought love stories in which the conflict seems contrived merely to create drama or comedy or both. In Children of a Lesser God the love is so simple, and the conflict so believable, that it feels less like watching a movie, and more like watching friends walk through their own personal story. The attraction between Matlin and Hurt is obvious, but genuine, and is filled with the kind of "touches" that make it feel real. It is also a visually beautiful film. Each shot is set like a still photographer capturing an image. The overwhelming beauty of the New Brunswick coast creates a background for the film that leaves one with the feeling of watching a moving painting. Matlin has unfortunately not since been offered anything near this piece in which to display her amazing talent. It is a shame that a woman who could stand alongside Katherine Hepburn and Jodie Foster as all time great actresses is not having the opportunity to display that talent because of her hearing disability.

Yes, this is a love story about two unusually attractive people but its power comes from Hurt and Matlin's ability to increasingly convey vulnerability and authenticity as they fight to become completely real to each other. Marlee in particular is remarkable in her expressiveness. There is a scene where she watches Hurt while she's in an indoor swimming pool and you only see her eyes over the edge of the pool -- but the depth and variety of what "just those eyes" express!

Because all of us intuitively know what they are going through as they strip away layer after layer -- who of us hasn't feared exposure of the person we feel the world shouldn't see? -- we are drawn into their revealing their secret selves because we wish we knew who OUR OWN secret self is.

And the film is funny, engaging, touching, crazy and human!

Marlee Matlin has been fending for the record of being the youngest BEST ACTRESS winner in Oscar's history for 26 years now (at the age of 21), which is rehashed by this year's Jennifer Lawrence's winning (at the age of 22), a closest challenger ever. What intrigues me is how Academy would grant its top honor to such a youngster? I reckon she must play a role older than her real age (as Lawrence did in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK 2012, 7/10) apart from her differing ability. And my guess is right, it is a meaty role would elicit an actress' all-out capacity to catch the attention and empathy from beholders, plus Matlin is gorgeously beautiful in person, from an anger-ridden minimal-wager earner to a feisty woman yearning for independence and not pandering for her lover's conventional salvation, a deaf woman's own silent world is her own powerhouse, arms her with determination and self-confidence. The film is directed by female director Randa Haines and adapted from Mark Medoff's Broadway play, a touch of sentimentality is abiding throughout, goes with the saccharine score by Michael Convertino.

The other half of the film is William Hurt, the sensual leading man of 1980s' Hollywoodland, he is a speech teacher for deaf children and is besotted with Matlin's eccentricities, he is not a flawless romantic prince, he can rescue her from mundane chores but his insistence of her to speak (in spite of her deafness) denotes a generalized point of view of patronizing the impaired, trying to change them to cater for the life the society designs while being blind to their real needs, aka, he can never enter into her silence, a message being clearly disseminated during their altercation. Hurt is also admirable in learning all the sign languages in the film (by comparison, Piper Laurie as Matlin's mother, is barely trying to do so for communication, not Laurie's fault though since it reflects pitch perfect how their relationship is, and Laurie earned a surprising third Oscar nomination despite of her character's sparing screen time), and the chemistry between him and Matlin makes wonder, how one can forget the aesthetically stunning underwater shots when they accept each other in the swimming pool for the very first time.

One distinguished feature is there is no dubbing of sign languages in the films, instead they are all interpreted by the recipients by words, so for the majority who don't learn sign languages, what we are able to understand is the secondary information reiterated by another person (mainly Hurt in this case), which in a way bars our immediate perception and we also feel frustrated inasmuch as the language barrier is too obvious to overcome. The happy ending may not be an overused cliché as that time, but watching it in the year of 2013, it alleviates the gravitas of the kernel, it is more like a mismatched pair than a happy-ever-after fairytale, one can imagine their future would still be choppy because independence takes no middle ground in its process, in any rate, the film could only be referred as in its half way of being great.

James Leeds (William Hurt) is the new speech therapist at a school for the deaf. He has limited signing skills and is intrigued by Sarah Norman (Marlee Matlin). She was the school's most promising student but she is now the school's janitor. He tries to teach her to speak but she rejects him. She is filled with anger but eventually she allows him into her world.

It's the acting debut for Marlee Matlin and it's the first time I watched deaf acting. It was a revelation because she gives it so much emotions. She's doing acting like the old silent stars. It's amazing how visceral the fights become. It's a relatively simple romance but it's the signing that is so important. It broke down barriers at the time and literally gave cinema a new visual language.

Marlee Matlin may have taken home Oscar gold for "Children of a Lesser God" (and she deserved it) but I really do have a newfound respect for William Hurt after watching this. Using Matlin's singing as a comparison, you can tell that he really put in the time to learn sign language for the role. And he has the largely thankless role of interpreting both characters during dialogue scenes. I dunno, I just liked him very much here; he was a great teacher, very sympathetic, and integral in the film's sincerity.

And if you can get past that oppressive sore, this is overall a great romantic drama.

7/10

This is one my favorite movies of all time. The quality of the acting leaves me breathless. The scene where Sarah is dancing slowly to a song by the Staples Singers says so much - the tempo is fast and most people were disco dancing or "stepping" to "I'll Take You There." Sarah feels the real underlying slow beat of the music and responds to that. It was a very moving scene.

Piper Laurie as her mother was phenomenol. Her expressions and body language said so much more than her words. You could tell she really loved Sarah and was frustrated that she didn't really understand her. She also had a little bit of the "bury your head in the sand" approach to Sarah's deafness.

Sarah was determined to have the world accept her on HER own terms and simply turned her back on it when it did not. Sarah was intelligent, beautiful and fun. She couldn't understand why people seemed to define and categorize her by her deafness. She was so much more than that and William Hurt's (I don't remember his name in the movie) character was sensitive enough to recognize that. His character was a little condescending and pushy, and I can see where he would get on any girl's nerves because he was not a good listener. He wanted Sarah to be the person he though she should be and justified it under his guise of "helping" her to cope in a hearing world. She was smart enough to figure him out and reject his attempt to mold her.

You could feel Sarah's loneliness in her silent world and you knew that she wanted love, friends and happiness just like the rest of us, but didn't know if she would ever get them.

I really loved the character and the whole movie. It gave us a brief glimpse into a deaf person's world through some extraordinary scenes: Sarah swimming and describing to William Hurt exactly how she imagined waves sounded, and getting it right; Marian Lesser communicating only in sign language at the party which gave William Hurt's character a chance to see things from another perspective. I think he learned that there is more than one standard way to live and enjoy life and being unable to hear isn't the worst thing that could happen to a person.

Solid if unremarkable screen version of the Broadway play, starring Marlee Matlin before anyone knew who she was and William Hurt at the height of his mid-1980s popularity.

The film is sensitive and well-acted, but it never completely sheds its stage origins, and it has that faint whiff of school assembly lecture that many movies preaching tolerance for minority groups have. Matlin delivers a brave performance in her screen debut as a deaf student who falls in love with a professor; Hurt is said professor and delivers what he's asked to.

Also with Piper Laurie as Matlin's over-protective mother.

Grade: B+

When I first saw this movie I knew only the hand alphabet, but this movie made me want to learn more. After years of picking up bits here and there I am amazed at how well William Hurt used signs. Personally I think basic sign language should be taught in all schools. This is a very touching love story and I never get tired of seeing it. James is not perfect as the teacher trying to deaf students to speak. He makes many mistakes, but you can see how he cares very much. The love he has for Sarah is very real. I felt so sorry for Sarah but I also knew that she was a survivor. I would love to have that kind of strength. I have seen Marlee Matlin in lots of things since this and she is definitely a great actor.

Randa Haines 'Children of a Lesser God' is a Complex story, told in a mature manner. What also stands tall in this rather unique love-story, are it's performances by it's lead stars.

'Children Of A Lesser God' tells the story of a speech teacher at a school for deaf students, who falls in love with a deaf woman who also works there.

Though a love-story without any response half the time, this romantic-drama packs in some truly heartfelt moments. The writing in the first hour is superb. But dips in the second hour for a while, but a mature & real culmination makes up for it. Randa Haines understands this human story with maturity and her direction is perfect. Cinematography is good, so is the Editing.

Now to the performances! 'Children Of A Lesser God' would've been soul-less if not for it's performances. Marlee Matlin is Stunning in her Oscar & Golden-Globe-Winning Performance. She speaks through her eyes, and conveys all the emotions inside her. William Hurt is restrained all through. Piper Laurie is first-rate and leaves a strong impression. Philip Bosco is good.

On the whole, 'Children Of A Lesser God' is A Good Watch, without a shed of doubt. If it had a better second hour, I would have given this story a proper 9 on 10, nonetheless, I had an experience worth reviewing.

William Hurt, lean and handsome and focused, is forced to rely heavily on his frustrated good guy persona here, playing teacher at a school for the deaf who is appalled that a brilliant young deaf woman is also working at the school--but as a janitor. She's rebellious (and won't speak because of childhood traumas), he argues with her in sign language while speaking for himself and for her (for the audience's benefit), and they go around and around. It's like a deaf variation on "Two For the Seesaw". Marlee Matlin has a plum role here, and won a Best Actress Oscar, yet the arch of her character is rather dull--she's much more amazing at the beginning than at the end (she's softened, necessarily, by the film's built-in sentiment, but how far has she come? She still won't speak at the finale). The kids in Hurt's classroom are a fun, colorful bunch, and the picture has many romantic-but-edgy passages that keep it interesting, yet it's still quite tiring by the end. **1/2 from ****

This is perhaps the most moving and thought-provoking film about love and being in a relationship that I have ever seen. Matlin takes your breath away as you fall in love with her and she breaks your heart. Randa Haines documents, meticulously, the real effort and struggle that must go into negotiating a romantic relationship between any two individuals, and also the priceless dividends we reap by doing so- namely, love, home, friendship, acceptance, family: life.

"Children of a Lesser god" allows you to think, feel, and experience the things all good movies should. I highly recommend it...Matlin gives an awe-inspiring performance, 100% deserving of the Oscar she won for it. William Hurt balances the entire film, a feat which perhaps made him even more deserving of an Academy Award. All-in-all, if you want to watch a movie that tackles the timeless and immortal themes of love, communication, our relationship to the world, our relationship to our significant other, and most importantly our relationship to ourselves, I highly recommend this film. It will move you to tears.

Hurt is excellent, Laurie and Bosco are outstanding, but Matlin gives one of the most amazing cinematic performances of all time. She is scintillating. The play is even more forceful with her gritty performance that it was with Phyllis Frielich on broadway. The direction makes up what it lacks in imagination with conviction and sincerity. I recommend it highly.

I enjoyed this movie because I understood, at least in part, the need for isolation as a defence against the world. I also believe that one can find someone to share the silence and it is that that makes being vulnerable worth it. Life can have a harmony of two together if you are willing to give it your all.

A film that should get a lot of credit for at least broaching the subject of deafness, casting deaf actors (a first), and introducing us to 21-year-old Marlee Matlin, who's wonderful here. It has serious flaws in both the story and how it's told, however, which makes it fall short especially in 2022, after having seen a more three dimensional representation in the film Coda, which also stars Matlin. We get glimpses of the frustration of being deaf, but Children of a Lesser God is more focused on the relationship between a teacher (William Hurt) and a janitor (Matlin) than it is about going into depth on her struggles.

Oh, we see the deaf kids learn how to dance along to the song "Boomerang," one learn some profanity, and find out that Matlin's character is better than all the hearing girls in bed, but these are all pretty shallow things geared towards commercial appeal, and told mostly from the teacher's perspective. He's like a hearing savior, and it was a serious mistake to have Hurt vocalize all of the dialogue from the deaf characters rather than subtitle them. When Hurt was screaming at Matlin to speak HIS language and SPEAK to him, I felt like punching him in the face, a feeling possibly amplified by knowing some of the things he did to her in their personal life.

The deaf characters are humanized, however, and Matlin's character does get in a few moments to explain some of her emotions. Ordinarily I'd probably fall for the sweetness in the love story, but here I found myself thinking it was too commercial, with the gratuitous (though brief) nudity included. If it were made today, I'd probably knock my rating down a bit, but I respect the progress it represented in 1986, and loved Marlee Matlin.

"Children of lesser god" is an unique movie. It was the first film directed by a woman (Randa Haines) to be Oscar nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Marlee Matlin is the youngest ever winner of a Best Actress Oscar. Matlin is also one of only four actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar for a debut film performance. The movie is one if the few movies about people with hearing problems and deafness. The film was the first major motion picture since the 1926 silent film You'd Be Surprised to cast a deaf / hearing impaired actor in a major role. Marlee Matlin has only one spoken line in English during the entire film. The rest of her performance is in American Sign Language.

The movie is based on critically acclaimed Broadway stage play that was very popular. The playwright Mark Medoff also wrote the screenplay for this movie. The film and source play's "Children of a Lesser God" title is derived from the twelfth chapter of Alfred Lord Tennysons "Idylls of the King" cycle of twelve narrative poems.

The screenplay is both simple and complex. Hollywood is full of love stories where there isn't really no humor and the drama feels forced. Here it all feels real. It feels like real life. The characters are well written and the conflicts the face are completely natural and believable. It's interesting that the movie starts like one of those movies about inspiring teacher , but slowly turns into wonderful melodrama. There are many scenes involving Hurt's work with the deaf children and they are good , but it's the love story that counts the most. The screenplay rightfully deserved the Oscar nominee.

The chemistry between Hurt and Matlin is brilliant. It's not strange , because they really felt in love with each other while making "COLG". They even lived together for few months after movie was finished and it's a sad thing that it didn't last. When you watch the movie you can see perhaps the most authentic romance I've ever seen in cinema.

Marlee Matlin is spectacular in here. You could say it's a kind of cheat for deaf person to play def person. It doesn't change the fact that she is wonderful . I've never thought that a sound of hand clapping other hand might be chilling (watch the movie – you will know what scene I'm talking about). Matlin is able to say so much with her hands or face . The only time she speaks it's truly heartbreaking.

William Hurt is in the shadow of Matlin , since he got the less interesting role. Still , he is great. He always was a master of subtlety and this movie is no exception. His character also changes and suffers during the movie. His also one of the best inspirational teachers in history of cinema.

Piper Laurie has not too much screen time , but beautifully makes a complex character of Sarah's mother. In hands of less skilled actress it would be a cliché character and trivial performance . Laurie gives the audience a character who isn't black or white and quite possible the one they could relate to the most.

The movie is very well directed by Randa Haines , which is surprising since it's her movie debut. Yet she never allows the movie to be too sentimental or manipulative with the viewer's emotions. The mix of humor and drama is perfect. The movie is also quite well photographed, the beauty of New Brunswick coast makes you wanna go there.

Some people are complaining that the movie is too noisy for a film about deafness , that there aren't any scenes that use silence. I don't really see a need for that. The use of sign language feels natural here. The subtitles would be distracting in my opinion. The movie does justice to deaf people portraying them as real people with ambitions , passions and desires , not like poor cripples.

This is a beautiful movie about acceptance , finding yourself and emotional growth. This is what love should be. Find out if the world of sound and world of silence can meet. I give it 9/10.

A teacher (William Hurt) moves to coastal Maine to work at a school for the deaf on an island where he becomes interested in a striking, but disturbed janitor (Marlee Matlin), who was once a student there.

"Children of a Lesser God" (1986) is part celestial and mundane; beautiful and profane. Thankfully there's more beauty. The Northeast coastal locations are wonderful and Hurt makes for a worthy protagonist while expertly pulling off a difficult role. Marlee Matlin is an exquisite revelation without which the movie would've failed.

Everything builds to a stunning dramatic scene in the second half, which is expertly executed. Unfortunately, the couple hooks-up a little prematurely. More time should've been spent with the journey to consummation. Nonetheless, there are great moments here.

The film runs 1 hour, 59 minutes and was shot in New Brunswick, Canada (Rothesay, Saint John & Beaver Harbour).

GRADE: B

If I'm watching a film about two unlikable people that the script is desperate to put together, you can forgive me for not being too enthusiastic. In Children Of A Lesser God there's a teacher called James with an 'unconventional' style of doing things (When are we going to see a NORMAL educator doing NORMAL things?) That 'SURPRISE SURPRISE' work on his unruly class. He's just started at a school for the deaf you see, and in true Dead Poet's Society style, is the only live wire in a sea of formality. This part of the movie, as derivative as it is, is at least interesting.

Then we meet the love interest Sarah, played by Oscar winner Marlee Matlin. She's 25, a former student there who's stayed on as a cleaner. For some reason, James starts to unabashedly stalk her and won't take "NO" for an answer when propositioning her for a date. She eventually gives in (Perhaps to just shut him up) and 'SHOCK HORROR' her emotions turn from dislike to l'amour almost in the space of one dinner.

Another thing to note about her is her DARK AND TROUBLED PAST which shows itself in random screaming fits that arise for no particular reason. Yeah, she's had it bad... But flying off the handle at the slightest indiscretion didn't endear her to me one bit. So, you have the creepy stalker teacher who's OH SO WILD & WACKY on one hand, and the unstable deaf girl who takes offense at virtually everything on the other. Am I supposed to root for these irritating boors? No dice.

I'll say one thing for them, though... They TRULY belong together. 5/10