If you are a music buff, and more so, a young adult at that, who believes in the magic of movies, then make sure folks you don’t miss the date with the Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language German film Beyond Silence (Jenseits der Stille) (English sub-titles).

The film, set in the now re-unified Germany, a poginant portrayal of a prodigious young woman’s personal battle for independence and her deaf parents’ struggle to understand her gift for music, comes courtsey Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore, as of part of its German Films for Young People programme.

The film, which boasts of bouquet of awards in its bonnet, is filled with thematic depth relating to communications difficulties of one family with those of the nation as a whole, offers viewers fascinating glimpses into contemporary German society.

Lara, is a sprightly and gifted daughter of a deaf couple. We first meet her, as precocious 8 year-old child wise beyond her years. Devoted to her parents, she uses the sign language to translate for them in business meetings and is bridge between their realm of silence and noisy world outside. The young lass dots on her musician-aunt, a clarinet player, who gifts her a clarinet.

Following dreams
Determined to follow her dreams, Lara’s passionate pursuit of music, creates a rift that eventually threatens to rend apart her close-knit family. Flash-forward ten years, Lara a young woman and accomplished clarinet player meets Tom, a teacher of deaf children, and falls in love..... Will her parents fears come true? Is there a tragedy lurking?

Well, as Lara says during one of those heart-wrenching moments: “The saddest things in life are separations and deaths. I don’t want to say good-bye anymore. I've had enough of that.”

Must watch
A debutant directorial essay by Caroline Link, Beyond Silence, is a thoughtful feature, which in addition to its emotional resonance and dramatic sweep, for both young and adults alike, is one no movie-lover should miss, for it is sheer joie de vivre with bravura performances by its lead players and its rich repertoire of soulful songs.
Screening Saturday 6.30 at Max Mueller Bhavan, 716 CMH Road, Indiranagar 1st Stage . For details call 25205305/06/07/08. Entry free.