(Romeo un Dzuljeta), Viesturs Kairiss / LIT, 2004
original version / Czech sub-subtitles, 57 min
An emotional documentary depicting the staging of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story by a group of deaf Latvian youths. The film finds drama in their lives, and intertwines these with emotional scenes from the musical. The film is also a statementof the will of the deaf to participate in the larger world. Their recital to music instead of singing is the strongest and most unexpected witness of the realities of their world. This reciting is a type of performance where a person without hearing (although able to perceive the vibration of the sounds of music) "sings" the text to choreographed and rhythmic signs. This is accompanied by a phonogram of the song so that those with normal hearing can hear the text and also its signed interpretation.
