210. Listen; movie review

 

LISTEN

Cert 15

73 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, domestic abuse references

Can a child really be taken from a good family in the UK and be forcibly placed for adoption without appeal?

My own understanding of the social services system left me in doubt whether some of the key premises in Ana Rocha de Sousa's Listen were genuine but the film's producers have said it is thoroughly researched and there are examples which back them up.

In essence, it makes the claim that a hard-working but poor Portuguese immigrant family would have their three children snatched away on the basis of bruises on their deaf daughter's back.

There are no in-depth interviews with either the hard-pressed but loving mother (Lúcia Moniz) or under-pressure father (Ruben Garcia).

Instead, social workers and the police raid the family home, snatch the children and irreversible decisions are made.

Listen's main plank surrounds Lu (Maisie Sly), the little deaf girl whose hearing aid has been broken.

This prompts anguish for her, her mum and especially her school who then discover bruises which are wrongly attributed to domestic violence.

It appears that the family are already under the microscope of the authorities but the film does not make it clear why.

If they were British they must have significant history for them to be handled so strictly, so the implication is that the dice are loaded against them because they are immigrants

I previously had the impression that the social services system is grindingly slow. Friends of ours found this out when trying to adopt an at-risk child. It literally took years

So, while it was superbly acted - especially by Moniz - I was left a tad confused by Listen.

It addresses some very important points but I felt it needed to make them more clearly.

Reasons to watch: Important issue

Reasons to avoid: Over-simplification

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Section 14 of the Children and Families Act 2014 sets a statutory time limit of 26 weeks by which time care proceedings must conclude unless there are 'exceptional' reasons for an extension of time.

The final word. Ana Rocha de Sousa: "Separation as a preventive measure is a question mark to my beliefs. Union, support and compassion usually achieve better results. LISTEN is to me a painful journey in how we see, what we judge or believe - and what is actually real.”

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