Review of Children of a Lesser God (1986) by Robert H — 23 Jan 2015

CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD seemed like it would feel right at home on the Lifetime Network. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, except that those types of films tend to go for the easy emotional hook rather than dealing with harsher realities that might be more true to life. However, this film rises above that, to a degree, thanks to some good work by the reliable William Hurt and an eye-opening performance by deaf actress Marlee Matlin. Her presence was critical to making it work, and its success mostly rests on her shoulders.

The story concerns a teacher, James Leeds (William Hurt), who is a new addition to the faculty at Kittredge School for the Deaf. He is an idealistic person with unconventional teaching methods who quickly earns the trust and admiration of his students. However an employee, Sarah (Marlee Matlin), and also a former student, proves more of a challenge. Despite her resistance to him trying to help, a romance blossoms between the two and sets the stage for a clash of wills.

Aside from the outstanding performances (including a small, but affecting turn by Piper Laurie as Sarah's mother), one thing I thought was really well-done was the intimate moments of conflict between James and Sarah after the point in the story where they fall in love. Those dialogue exchanges were key to what I felt was the central struggle in the film. Nominally, it was about a man in love trying to get through to a deaf woman, but it can also be generalized to any relationship where communication can be difficult. Men and women often enter a relationship hoping that the other person will meet them on their own terms, but the reality is that it's best if they meet each other halfway. This is something I thought was beautifully explored in the film. I also enjoyed the many scenes where James interacts with his students, as these provided some comic relief.

Still, not everything was so admirable. For one, I thought that the film took a rather patriarchal attitude towards women. Marlee Matlin, strong as her performance may have been, is still playing a strong-willed woman who finds herself in being with a man, just shy of being domesticated. At one point during the obligatory separation part of any romantic drama, she moves back in with her mother and gets a job, but doesn't find fulfillment in it. I understand that this film was made close to 30 years ago (and the play it was based on) so it's a product of its time, but things like that have a detrimental effect on how well a film ages. And with respect to its attitudes towards women, this film has not aged well in my opinion. They also took a rather pedestrian and cliche approach to the romantic elements of the story.

Overall, this was a well-acted and (seemingly) well-meaning look at love in a unique relationship/circumstance. Some of the music was a little too on-the-nose, but generally was fitting. I also enjoyed the 80's pop songs they included in the soundtrack. What the film does best is explore the difficulties inherent in a relationship between a hearing and deaf person, which can be generalized to the difficulty in any relationship. Still, it's retrograde (at least, now) attitude towards women makes it a little lesser of a film than it could have been.