Children of a Lesser God

I think this picture is a knockout. By turns funny, touching, and anguished, it boasts dynamite performances by Marlee Matlin (who is gorgeous, and, incidentally, won an Oscar for this role) as a young deaf woman, and William Hurt as her teacher. These two fall in love, then grope towards some kind of understanding, a way to bridge the gulf that separates them. ("A place not in silence, or in sound, but somewhere in between.") (Or something like that.) Their struggle for a resolution is an archetype for any two people involved in a difficult relationship; here it is just manifested as the difference between the deaf and the hearing. In this fashion the film resonates far beyond its immediate story. It is a love story, perhaps an age-old story, but told with a twist that sheds new light on that timeless theme.