Hearing Heaven is a film based on a true story based on Micoman Cassi, a national treasure in Italy who is a blind sound master. This movie Douban has been marked by more than 20,000 people, and the rating is as high as 8.9 points, which is higher than 96% of the feature films.
The story of the film is simple: a young boy named Mick misfires while playing with a rifle and has since gone blind. Blind, Mick comes to school for the blind. Here, he explores the world in his own unique way —collecting sounds. In the process, he was blocked by the principal and ostracized by his classmates. In the end, with the help of Teacher Tang, Mick successfully replaced his eyes with his ears, recorded the bits and pieces of life, and proved to adults that blind children can also pursue freedom and dreams.
In fact, the plot of the story seems a bit cheesy: an ordinary child is suddenly accidentally attacked, and finally struggles to find himself in the dark. But this film has won the tears and word of mouth of many audiences.
Today, I will start from the three storylines of the film that fall into the cliché, combined with the unconventional interpretation of human nature, to interpret this film that integrates inspiration and growth. In the third part of the article, I will talk about a few reasons why this blind children's film is loved by audiences.
Mick, blind, sat on the grass
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >01, a clichéd storyline: an ordinary child goes blind by an accident, struggles in the dark, and finally finds the light of life</h1>
Childhood time is always reminiscent and nostalgic for countless people, because in childhood we had toys, snacks, playmates, and could be carefree. Originally, Mick was also a carefree boy, often playing games with his friends. But an accident — a back-and-forth gunfire — left him without a carefree childhood. But fortunately, he is still a person who loves life and insists on his dreams.
The imagination of Miko and his classmates was amazing, and we were touched by the children's desire for freedom and the pursuit of their dreams. In this touching story, the director added a lot of classic storylines. I will interpret this film from three storylines.
(1) The storyline of the sudden accident
Whether it is a film or a literary work, in order to advance the storyline, the director/author will always set up some sudden accidents or contradictions, and "Hearing Heaven" is no exception.
Mick was originally an ordinary carefree little boy, and one day he played with his father's rifle on a whim. Just then, Mick hears someone downstairs calling him, and when he tries to put the gun back, the gun accidentally goes off and Mick goes blind. Blind, Mick could no longer attend regular schools. In order for Mick to have a good career in the future, his parents had to send Mick to boarding school for the blind.
The unexpected plot of Mick in "Hearing Heaven", although similar to other films, is the key plot that drives the story forward.
Mick is playing with his father's rifle
(2) A plot that is incompatible with the new environment
I have seen many children's films, in order to highlight the protagonist's character image, the director often designs the protagonist to be significantly different from others, and the protagonist's distinctive temperament will always make them incompatible with the personalities around them.
For example, in "Genius Girl", which is also a children's movie, the protagonist Mary, whether it is IQ or ideological concepts, is obviously different from the classmates around her.
"Hearing Heaven" also sets up a plot in which Mick is not compatible with the new school. Mick's incompatibility with the new environment is in many ways.
First, from poor vision to complete blindness, Mick needs time to adapt. When Mick first arrived at the school for the blind, he was not completely blind, and he could still see a faint light and figure. But one night, he suddenly went completely blind. Mick repeatedly turned on and off the toilet, etc., and he once thought that the light was broken. When he found out that he was completely blind, he broke down and cried, complaining: "If God loved me, he would not let me go blind." ”
In the second aspect, the newcomer Mick does not fit well into the classmates. When Mick first arrived at school, he didn't get along well with his classmates around him, and even got into a fight with his classmates at an extracurricular activity.
Third, Mick, who loves adventure and advocates freedom, is at odds with the austere school atmosphere. Schools for the blind focus on teaching students to learn livelihood skills, such as weaving. Because students have some visual impairments, in order to prevent accidents in children, principals and teachers are always cautious, and children have little right to choose. Mick, on the other hand, loves adventure and freedom, and often does things that are not allowed by his teachers. Once, Mick was dropped out of school by the principal for leading several classmates to collect voices to record stories.
The principal asked Mick to drop out
(3) The plot of the final counterattack
Except for some films with tragic endings, ordinary movies will design a happy ending such as counterattack and reunion at the end of the film, and the same is true for "Hearing Heaven".
At the end of "Hearing Heaven", Mick successfully presented his work to parents with the help of Teacher Tang. In addition, Mick has also won the recognition of his classmates and gets along very well with his classmates.
Some people may feel that the above plot is the need for the development of the film's story, but in my opinion, it is the director's elaborate plot. The director grasped the audience's psychology of wanting the protagonist to have a good ending, set up many obstacles in the middle, and mastered the audience's emotional fluctuations.
At the end of the film, the subtitles say:
In 1975, after several years of pressure, the Italian government abolished schools for the blind through a political law, allowing blind students to enter general schools. Mick left school at the age of sixteen, and although his eyesight never recovered, he went on to become the most famous sound editor in Italian cinema.
In my opinion, the perfect ending of the movie is not only the end of Mick's personal fate, but also the beautiful beginning of the lives of many blind children. The director successfully grasped the emotions of the audience, used the psychology of the audience, and showed us the future of equality and freedom for blind children.
Mick and his classmates collect sounds and record stories
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02, unconventional interpretation: interpreting different aspects of human nature from multiple roles and perspectives</h1>
Different people will watch "Hearing Heaven" from different angles, and what attracts me most about this movie is the multi-faceted humanity it presents.
(1) The contradiction of human nature: knowing that freedom is precious, but using rules and regulations to bind children
The principal of the school for the blind, like Mick, was a healthy and ordinary child, but he was blinded by an accident. The principal can actually feel the blind children's desire to explore life and explore the world, and he understands that blind children hope that they can have the opportunity to experience what ordinary people have been enjoying.
However, the principal prefers to bind these children with rules and regulations. He clearly defined the types of children's living, studying, homework, and even stipulated what children should show to their parents.
Although the principal in the film is an unpleasant character, he is also very pitiful. The contradictions of human nature are vividly reflected in this "poor" principal.
Principal of a school for the blind
(2) The beauty of human nature: The greatest love for the weak is to treat him as an ordinary person
Whether it is for a blind child or other people with physical defects, the best care and help is to treat him as an ordinary person and treat them in the same way as ordinary people.
In the film, Teacher Tang is such a teacher who treats blind children as normal children. Teacher Tang knew that Mick loved to use the radio to collect sounds, and he was quite talented in this regard, so he gave the radio to Mick. Teacher Tang did not think that Mick was blind because he was not doing a good job, nor did he force Mick to learn the so-called "livelihood skills" because of this.
Similarly, Mick treats his blind classmates as ordinary people. One day Mick sneaks his classmates to a movie theater near the school. Although these children can't see it, it doesn't affect their understanding of the storyline in the film, nor does it affect their joy of "watching" the movie.
Mick takes his classmates to the movie theater to "watch" a movie
(3) The flash of human nature: risking against the leader and doing what you think is right
A good teacher is hard to find, and meeting a good teacher is a great blessing in everyone's life. Although the children in "Hearing Heaven" are unfortunately blind, they meet a very good teacher, Teacher Tang.
Under the leadership of Mick, the children used the things around them to simulate various sounds and record a wonderful story, hoping to present it to parents at the literary performance. But the principal only wants the child to pretend to be a "normal person" to perform a boring program rehearsed in advance in front of the parents.
Teacher Tang saw the enthusiasm, curiosity and imagination of the children, and in order to help the children realize their dreams, he did not hesitate to confront the principal. Teacher Tang is a light in the dark world of these children, leading these invisible children to listen to the world and explore the world in their own unique way.
Teacher Tang argues with the principal for Mick
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03, interpreting this blind children's film that integrates inspiration and growth, there are several reasons why the audience loves it:</h1>
Children's films and inspirational films are more and more in the market, and they are more abundant in terms of plot, but why can this blind children's film be loved by the audience? I thought of the following 3 reasons.
(1) Although the plot falls into the cliché, the story is presented in a real way
In recent years, many documentaries have received a lot of praise. Because the documentary greatly restores the environment in which the characters are located and the story of what happens.
Although "Hearing Heaven" is not a documentary, it is based on a true story, and the storyline is very authentic. In addition, some of the young actors in this film are blind, and the young actors are really responsible for what they look like in life.
The props used by the children in the film are also taken from life, such as leaves, spoons, pieces of paper and so on. We are amazed at the child's rich imagination and feel its authenticity.
(2) The human nature presented in the film resonates with the audience
In the Douban film review, one audience member said this:
Although this group of children has lost their eyesight, it still does not prevent them from riding bicycles, going to the theater to "watch" movies, looking for that youthful love, and most importantly, to chase their dreams and gain that equality and freedom.
In my opinion, the most valuable thing about this movie is the humanity it shows. While telling the story, the film also takes each viewer into a deeper level of thinking— thinking about the nature of human nature.
Perhaps for adults and children, whether it is a sound person or a person with a disability, each of us has a desire for dreams, a pursuit of freedom and equality.
(3) The way children listen to the world is also the way we have explored the world
When we were young, we always explored the world in a variety of ways. We gain more theoretical knowledge by constantly asking our parents "why"; we perceive what is cold and what is hot through practice; we feel the difference in taste by smelling...
Although the children in "Hearing Heaven" cannot see with their eyes, their mouths, ears, noses, hands and other organs are sound. Although they cannot see the world, they can "smell" the world and "hear" the world. These children listen to the world and explore the world, which is what each of us looks like when we were children.
Mick and his classmates
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summarize:</h1>
The film "Hearing Heaven", although it did not win the International Film Award, achieved great success in word of mouth. The director's unconventional interpretation method and the emotions presented in the film have brought a great viewing experience to this film. In the movie, Mick uses the sounds of various common things to score the story, which makes me feel refreshed.
Therefore, today's article will introduce some of my thoughts on "Hearing Heaven". In the third part of the article, I also combined with the film to interpret several reasons why this blind children's film that integrates inspiration and growth is so popular with the audience.