THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER

THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER - 1968

RATED - G

RATINGS - 28 Amazon (4.5/5), 4,327 (3.7/5), 1.028 IMDB (7.8/10).

STARRING - Alan Arkin, Sondra Locke

AWARDS - 1969 Academy Award & Golden Globe nominee in both Best Actor & Best Supporting Actress categories. Also Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture nominee.

THEMES - Relationships, loneliness, handicaps, discrimination.

STORY - The film is based on Carson MCuller's best-selling novel which is an Oprah Book Club selection. John Singer (Arkin) is a deaf-mute who works in a small town jewelry store doing engraving and repairs. He also apparently has responsibility for another deaf-mute, Spiros(Chuck McCann) who continually gets into trouble with the law and is sent away to a 'facility' in another small community. Singer moves there to be close and help his friend. He rents a room from a family struggling with finances due to the father's hip injury and inability to work. He enters into the life of the teenage daughter struggling with her identity and coming of age. His disability makes him very sensitive to the needs and hurts of those around him including an African-American doctor who refuses to treat whites. While selflessly reaching out to those around him, Singer harbors a secret known only to himself. A powerful story of love and relationships and redemption and the world of silence occupied by those who cannot physically hear or speak but in reality hear and say more than most who are not handicapped. Top performances by Arkin and Locke carry this timeless film. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 12/6/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, BOOK