Marlee Matlin has been profoundly deaf since the age of 18 months and was married to her cop husband in Henry Winkler?s back yard; she won an Academy Award for her role in Children of a Lesser God.
Although it struggles a bit when William Hurt has to 'verbalise' deaf-mute co-star Marlee Matlin's dialogue, this drama set in a school for deaf people is otherwise a throat-grippingly successful teacher-pupil love story of a distinctly unconventional nature.
Matlin's wonderfully expressive face enables her to give a performance that won her an Academy Award, while Hurt and Piper Laurie (who plays Matlin's mother) were also nominated for Oscars. Based on the equally triumphant play, this film version benefits from sensitive direction by Randa Haines (her directorial debut) that brings out both the comic and tragic aspects of the affair between teacher Hurt and his 'special pupil', and from John Seale's glistening Metrocolor photography of the coldly beautiful Canadian landscape.
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