Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements
A powerful film about parents and children, though told with enough restraint that its more affecting moments might sneak up on you.
Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements
THE DAILY 7:40 PM SHOW WILL BE AN OPEN CAPTION PRESENTATION.
MOONLIGHT SONATA is a deeply personal memoir about a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old, and Ludwig van Beethoven the year he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata.
Director Irene Taylor Brodsky turns the camera on her deaf parents and her 11-year-old deaf son, Jonas, who has cochlear implants and is discovering a profound world of hearing – and music. As Jonas learns the first movement of Beethoven’s iconic sonata on the piano, his grandparents, deaf for nearly 80 years, watch with deepening awe what time and technology have bestowed on their grandson.
It is an elegantly emotional film, incisive and reflective by turns, that deals feelingly not only with silence and hearing but youth and aging as well. It does that by telling a trio of interconnected stories. There is Jonas, the director’s deaf son who had cochlear implants when he was 4 and 8. There is her deaf father, who is growing older and dealing with the onset of dementia. And then there is the wild-card presence of Ludwig van Beethoven and the marvelous piece of music he wrote just as he began to realize he was going deaf.
Much like the iconic piece after which it is titled, MOONLIGHT SONATA is a story about loss and, more importantly, what we discover when we push beyond it.
Produced, edited and directed by Oscar-nominated Irene Taylor Brodsky (THE FINAL INCH, HEAR AND NOW). A Vermilion Films/HBO Documentary films production.
MOONLIGHT SONATA is a deeply personal memoir about a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old, and Ludwig van Beethoven the year he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata.
Director Irene Taylor Brodsky turns the camera on her deaf parents and her 11-year-old deaf son, Jonas, who has cochlear implants and is discovering a profound world of hearing – and music. As Jonas learns the first movement of Beethoven’s iconic sonata on the piano, his grandparents, deaf for nearly 80 years, watch with deepening awe what time and technology have bestowed on their grandson.
It is an elegantly emotional film, incisive and reflective by turns, that deals feelingly not only with silence and hearing but youth and aging as well. It does that by telling a trio of interconnected stories. There is Jonas, the director’s deaf son who had cochlear implants when he was 4 and 8. There is her deaf father, who is growing older and dealing with the onset of dementia. And then there is the wild-card presence of Ludwig van Beethoven and the marvelous piece of music he wrote just as he began to realize he was going deaf.
Much like the iconic piece after which it is titled, MOONLIGHT SONATA is a story about loss and, more importantly, what we discover when we push beyond it.
Produced, edited and directed by Oscar-nominated Irene Taylor Brodsky (THE FINAL INCH, HEAR AND NOW). A Vermilion Films/HBO Documentary films production.
Genre
Documentary,
Music,
Women and Film
Runtime
89
Language
English
Director
Irene Taylor Brodsky
Awards:
Nominee, Grand Jury Prize ~ Documentary, Sundance Film Festival
FEATURED REVIEW
Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film
Stories told about deafness for general audiences tend to be about one of two things: the tragedy of losing hearing or the miracle of (re)gaining it. Occasionally they set out to explore the otherness of the Deaf community. What they very rarely do is to bring Deaf and hearing people together to ...
Played at
Royal 9.20.19 - 9.26.19
Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements Get Tickets
There are currently no showtimes for this film. Please check back soon.