Fausto (Gaetano Carotenuto) is a deaf boy who has been trained from birth to live exclusively in the hearing world. His mother (Anna Bonaiuto) has refused to allow him to meet or interact with other deaf children, much less learn sign language. As a consequence, he gets along (with some difficulties) in the hearing world; he holds a job at a bank, and has a "normal" girlfriend. His mother cannot or will not see that despite his "success," Fausto still feels like a second-class citizen since he will always be somewhat disadvantaged among the hearing. His spirits are boosted when he meets a girl (Chiara Caselli) who has dropped out of school; he is able to persuade her to return to school, and he is able to persuade the school board that she knows enough to sit for her final exams with her classmates. Eventually this sense of accomplishment enables him to win a victory of his own over his iron-willed mother.
by Clarke Fountain
synopsis
