IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I HEAR
Canada, 1982, 103 minutes, Colour.
Marc Singer, R.H.Thomson, Sarah Torgov, Shari Belafonte.
Directed by Eric Till.
If You Could See What I Hear is based on the autobiography of Tom Sullivan. The film is directed by Erie Till (Hot Millions, Improper Channels) and is a Canadian production. Marc Singer is Sullivan. The portrait of Sullivan as a student, a musician is sympathetic. However, Sullivan was blind from birth - and dealt with his blindness in a fairly cavalier way, until he met Patti who was to become his future wife and was forced to think about his life and his disability in greater depth. An episode of his saving a child from drowning in a pool is effective to highlight his reflections - but a postscript in the final credits indicates that this was a real event and that the child he saved was his own after several years of marriage. There is a raucous tone about the film which makes it at times somewhat crass and commonplace instead of the significant biography that it seems hope to be.
1. The film based on a biography, a real character, his perspective on his own life?
2. Canadian production, settings? The music, Tom Sullivan singing?
3. The title, the focus on Sullivan's blindness, his ability to "see" by sounds, and resonances? The audience invited to share his experience?
4. The portrait of Tom Sullivan: The opening, the shower, the encounter with Bill Sly? Their friendship? Going to classes, pressing wrong buttons, the awkwardness, the reaction of the teachers? Heather and her serious standing up for him? Friend ship, dates, his very extraverted approach? The relationship, sexual affair? Sharing the music? His angry reaction to her opting out? Moving with Sly, the music, playing in bars? The boarding house and the tolerant land lady, the raucous behaviour, her turning them out, her relenting? The women in Tom's life, casual affairs? The violence and the brawls? The meeting with Patti, the depth of the relationship, her religious stance, changing attitudes? The collage of their being together, his thinking more seriously? The separation, Heather's return, the resuming of the affair, Patti's phone call? His going to see her, the reconciliation, meeting her family, awkward moments at the table, playing golf with her father and his companion - and the collage of his beating them? His music, his hopes for a career? On the phone, the family absent, the little girl - and his saving her from Drowning, the marriage to Patti - his family and future?
5. Sly, character, the bonds with Tom, sharing the experiences, the boarding house the brawls, the women?
6. Heather, sympathetic to Tom, the relationship? The significance of his blindness and racial difference? Her return?
7. Patti, her values, attracted to Tom, clashing with him, his change because of her, going away? The return, the saving of the-child's life, her parents, the golf game, their marriage?
8. The people in the barn, tolerance of Tom, understanding? The landlady and her evictions - and reversing her decisions?
9. The world of universities, students and lecturers? The world of bars, customers, pick-ups, brawls?
10. The exploration of the theme of blindness, a man coming to terms with his disability, people's reactions, building a career, finally accepting his limitations?
