A mistake I made improved the movie experience of watching 'The Silent Twins" on Prime.
"The Silent Twins" is the title of both the book and the movie about twins June and Jennifer Gibbons. The two communicated, for the most part, only with each other. They developed what seemed to be their own language, later found to be their own unique dialect of English. Their story was told first in a book by Marjorie Wallace, who gained the twins' confidence through their mutual love of writing. The girls wrote fantasies and poetry, with creative passages and brilliant metaphors. And yet they were forever voluntarily separated from the world. Some of these writings are excerpted in the movie, with animation along side the words. It's a fascinating book and an excellent movie. Both examine from the outside a world lived entirely inside the shared mind of a set of twins.
My mistake, which I thought was just a brilliant conceit added by the director, resulted in watching a final act that was both sad and uplifting at the same time with an emotionless narrator introduced, describing in real time the events unfolding. A woman's nearly monotone voice tells what is happening as you watch, told in the third person in the present tense. As emotionless as a speaking alarm clock. When Jennifer cries the voice says "Jennifer Cries", almost coldly. The flat narration style fights the emotions bursting through what becomes a moment of personal liberation. Brilliant move by director Agnieszka Smoczynska? No. I inadvertently turned on "English Narration" at just the right moment.
Weirdly, I recommend watching the movie this way. When the girls are told they are leaving their last institution for a better life, turn on English narration right there. Somehow, it makes the whole experience richer.
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It sounds fascinating.
