Review of The Miracle Worker (1962) by Bsh N — 27 Sep 2010

It was only yesterday when I found out the existence of this little remembered film; almost by accident, because it was Arthur Penn's 88th birthday (I knew it for IMDb home page), and I clicked on his name just for curiosity to know a bit more about Bonnie and Clyde's director because that was the only film I had seen of his until today. And well, I was looking at his filmography list, and I put my eyes on a movie called "The Miracle Worker" and it instantly called my attention, I read the synopsis and I was completely surprised and impressed with it and inmediatly decided to download it to watch the next day (today). I've always felt curiosity about the existence of people deaf and blind at the same time, and that was the main reason why I was so hurried to watch it.

Well, a few hours ago, I started to watch one of the most shocking, heart-breaking, mindblowing, perfect, overwhelming, beautiful and moving films I've ever seen. It was extremely interesting, and definitely much, much better than expected (and my expectations were really high, by the way). Sadly my eyes for some strange reason never feel to cry, and I wish I cried. A completely perfect motion picture, superb directing and even a better acting, of course Bancroft perfect in that role, and Patty Duke who had to play the most difficult role, and she was astonishing too.

Sadly this film nowadays isn't very remembered compared to a lot of other classics from that time. In my opinion is much better than a lot of those classics. I loved it and it's now one of my favorite dramatic films, and overall one of my favorite movies from now on.

I was even more impressed when, after watching it, I found out it was based on a true story, the childhood of Helen Keller.

Also I finally watched the performance that defeated the girl "Scout" (Mary Badham), from another film I love: To Kill a Mockingbird. And while I love both films equally and both performances almost equally, I think that the Academy made the right choice.

An undisputed and sadly little remembered superb masterpiece. Barely the second Arthur Penn I see, and I absolutely love both of them.