I was flipping channels today and happened upon something unusual on HBO. An old woman was tapping on her wall, wondering why she couldn’t hear it and then the camera cut away to an old man in his garage noting how loud an electric screwdriver sounded. I came to find out that this was a documentary about couple Paul and Sally Taylor, both 65, deaf and fitted with new cochlear implants.
The film Hear and Now, directed by their daughter Irene Taylor Brodsky chronicled the couples’ life the year following their surgery. Though I hadn’t seen the beginning, it was clear that the implant worked much better at first for Paul than Sally and she is frustrated with this for much of the film. After some googling and IMDBing I found out it began showing in film festivals and selected theaters in January 2007 and in May began airing on HBO. It’s won awards from the Sundance Film Festival and the St. Louis Film Festival among others and it’s just a really well-made and touching movie.
Especially if you don’t know much about deaf culture or cochlear implants, or just enjoy good movies that won’t deplete your brain cells, check it out.
