Soundproof

Perhaps wrongly marketed as a 'groundbreaking' film - due to the number of deaf, as well as hearing actors - this really should appeal to anyone. There are some subtitles, but I didn't find this to be a problem. If it had simply been released as a mainstream movie I doubt the 'deaf' factor would come into it. Anyway, I enjoyed it. There are two very well-known British actors - Susan Lynch & Neil Stuke - both excellent. Lynch is much under-rated in my book. Joseph Mawle gives an outstanding performance in the lead role as the accused deaf lodger.

The story is interesting without being over-complex, and the rapport between the characters is good. There's a real sense of the desperation that must be felt when accused of a crime by a society that seems to make little effort to understand you. How to make yourself heard? I think the 'whodunnit' factor is a little too transparent for hardened mystery buffs, but it manages to capture nicely the rather bleak, seedy British urban lifestyle. Not exactly gritty, but still realistic.

I don't think this is a cinema-release movie, but if you get a chance to see it, give it a go. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Recently, I watched 'The Man Who Wasn't There' on late-night TV, and the film was accompanied by signing. I found it almost unwatchable as a result. The whole point of this film is that the central character's language (both spoken and physical) is completely deadpan, and in conventional terms, inappropriate, in spite of the extreme situations he faces. But the signer was making big faces and extravagant gestures throughout the movie. Maybe this is an unusual film, maybe this was just a bad signer, but perhaps, one of the difficulties deaf people face is an inability to partake in the full subtlety of human interaction (the alternative view being that deaf people have wholly adequate means of communication and their main disability is the prejudice of the hearing). But these questions returned to me on watching 'Soundproof', a drama featuring both deaf and hearing characters, centred on the involvement of a volunteer translator in a police investigation. The film was quite effective in conveying the difficulties that deaf people can have. But some of the human interaction in the film seemed perfunctory. Perhaps this is because as a non-deaf individual, I don't know how to read the signs; perhaps it reflect the reality of life for the deaf; perhaps it's just a falling of this drama, but I found is hard to really believe in the characters' inter-relationships, or relate to them myself. I guess it didn't help that the two lead characters (one deaf, one not) were both treated with unearned sympathy throughout, while the bigoted character seemed fated from the start not to be redeemed. Perhaps the film's real failing was its attempt, through the character of the interpreter, to bridge two worlds at once. A story set wholly in the world of the deaf would not only have been braver, but also more enlightening.

I just watched this BBC gem! In recent months there have not been many good one off drama's, but this was great. Reading that the story involved deaf and hearing actors i was intrigued and thrilled to see that there was something of substance to watch. I wasn't let down!! The acting was of a very high class and not only that but the cast seemed to completely gel with their characters. Unlike a lot of Drama's UK and US the music and background noise did not take away from the actual story or overpower it, they were used perfectly to show the audience how it feels to have a loss of hearing and it really gave you something to think about even when it ended. It may not be a red herring filled plot with twists and turns, but the case involved was interesting and there was no dull minute in 90 minute show. All in all it was a complete hit in my book so well done BBC for putting it on and well done to everyone involved in making this brilliant piece of TV.

Having seen Joseph Mawle in several totally different roles, JenBen Starke, Gerald in 'Women in Love' and most recently the heavy villain Jebediah Shine in 'Ripper Street', when I heard of this film I watched it out of curiosity as my hearing began to deteriorate steadily from my teens. Joseph Mawle did an excellent job as the profoundly deaf young man, and there were so many little things they got right. When people knocked on the door or called his name, he ignored them because he could not hear, until they got his attention by touching him. All my life I have been called standoffish and rude, even being marked down on performance reviews because they think I ignore greetings like 'good morning'. Hearing loss rarely means total loss of sound, but loss of certain frequencies. I do not hear telephones or doorbells, or even the emergency vehicles behind me in traffic, and music now sounds distorted as if half the orchestra has downed their instruments and gone home. I have tried to explain that while I hear sound, it is as if people are speaking in a foreign language - I cannot understand the words. After a while, friends fell away as they tired of repeating things or not getting my attention. I have had to learn to enjoy my own company. This film really caught the isolation of the deaf. When someone is blind or physically disabled, people allow for them, but a deaf person looks quite normal.

For a while watching the film, I thought there was something wrong with my sound system as the sound kept going faint and mumbled, with buzzing on the soundtrack, then I realised that what we were hearing was what the deaf characters heard, and being hearing impaired myself, that is how I hear sound when I don't have hearing aids or headphones. Hearing aids can help, but do not give normal hearing.

My only gripe is the use of flashbacks, which I find confusing unless they are in monochrome. Otherwise, this was an excellent film which might help people understand what we face.

Deaf CSI nothing else to be said It's a 5, 6 if you're into those kinds of shows. Nothing special about it and the I translator makes nothing moments feel even longer than they need too.