The Sound and the Silence

Wonderful movie! We're watching it in ASL due to the impact Bell had on Deaf culture. It's got some beautiful shots and moments and I love the way that the experiments--which are rather scientific at times--are explained so the viewer does not get lost. As a student of ASL, I find it incredibly interesting how they balance the arguments between oralism and sign language as well as the fact that most of the sign language and fingerspelling, as well as a few speech therapy techniques, are still used today. I was a bit confused on how he learned sign language well enough to teach, especially the different languages as there is not a universal sign language and the British and American versions differ greatly. I do want to add a couple of corrections to the first review: he grew up in Scotland, not Ireland, and the Gallaudet in the movie is not Thomas Gallaudet, but rather his son, A. W. Gallaudet. Hope that clears things up when viewing the movie!

This made-for-tv movie runs 3 hours but is worth it, indeed.

It begins with young Alex Bell's childhood in Ireland, and follows both his development as an inventor and his usually strained, disapproving relationship with his father, who felt Alex was a useless daydreamer.

Instead, Alex goes on to become a successful deaf teacher, contemporary with Gallaudet who is protrayed as well in the movie, although the two didn't see eye-to-eye on approaches to teaching the deaf.

Alex begins to invent a number of interesting items as well as discovering a broad spectrum of new ideas and theories. I was amazed to see what all he has contributed to our civilization in a number of areas, even including his neck-in-neck competition with the Wright Brothers to invent a controllable self-propelled aircraft.

This movie is very heartwarming and fresh. The only annoying part was the sometimes quick changes in age as Alex and others grow old, and the sudden change in a new actor for the character occasionally leaves one bewildered for a few moments or even minutes.

Overall, this is a fantastic, educational film for everyone, and a great family movie that could lead to a nice project on studying the life and contributions of Alexander Graham Bell.