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March 23, 2006
Touch The Sound, the movie
Imagine living in a world consumed with sound and having limited use of your sense of hearing. For Evelyn Glennie, this is the world in which she lives, and it is this world you are introduced to in Touch the Sound. As one of the world’s most respected percussionists, Glennie has learned to adapt her hearing loss out of necessity, and the result is intriguing.
Throughout the film, Glennie is making or listening to sounds. Instead of relying on her eardrums, she was taught to use her body to feel the sound, helping her possibly “hear” a greater range of sound than anyone with full use of his or her ears. Whether blasting away on a snare drum in the middle of Grand Central Station or banging on a pile of trash outside her brother’s house in Scotland, Glennie is obsessed with sounds. In fact, her fascination with the world of sounds borders on bizarre. Fortunately, it is this oddity that makes her such a fascinating subject for a documentary.
As the film claims, Touch the Sound is less about the life of a hearing impaired percussionist and more of a “sound journey.” As a result, Touch the Sound has its slow moments. However, even the most cynical will enjoy watching Glennie encouraging a teenage girl to remove her hearing aids and take her first attempt at using her entire being to register sound.
By Daniel Brantley
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_82503.asp
Posted by 4HL on March 23, 2006 9:23 AM
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Comments
I would like to point out that this film does not have captions or subtitles, so deaf people cannot enjoy this film until it comes out on DVD. When asked why, director Thomas Reidelsheimer said it was because they would interfere with the visual aesthetic of the film. I wrote an article about this, which was covered here: http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/13/deaf_people_not_acco.html
Posted by: Kathryn at March 24, 2006 7:09 PM