Werner Herzog, 1971
I think when most people think about blind-deafness we think blind-deafness we think Helen Keller and that's where it begins and ends. I think that's the tricky thing; because of that framework, we think of the condition as a solvable one. This is not necessarily true, as Herzog points out. If born blind and deaf, people may never learn to walk or grasp abstract concepts like love or pride. Another thing that Herzog lightly touches one but basically leaves in shadow is the fact that these people are often shamefully neglected by their caretakers.
Fini Straubinger, Herzog's principal protagonist, is a woman of profound humanity, and one finds it quite moving to see her interact with other afflicted people, many of whom suffer much more than her. Herzog's straightforward, bare bones visual style helps things from becoming too maudlin. Sometimes he holds your gaze on a subject for an excruciatingly long time, refusing to let you look away from their suffering.
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