Walking the other day through a well-known chain of stores I have been pleasantly surprised to find a movie that I haven't seen for a long time: “The miracle of Anna Sullivan” (“The miracle worker”) from director Arthur Penn.
The director manages to bring to the big screen, in 1962, this drama based on a real event that deals with a rather delicate issue, with an outstanding and masterful interpretation of the leading couple, where you can see how much you can establish a teacher-student relationship and that everything that one intends to achieve, is possible.
In the film we find Anna Sullivan, a teacher specialized in working with children with disabilities, who is called by the Keller family to educate her daughter Hellen, a seven-year-old girl who is deaf, blind and mute, with significant communication problems . In addition, the treatment parents have given their daughter has made her a spoiled child and reluctant to submit to any discipline. Anna will have to face the intelligence of Hellen and some overprotective parents
Hellen Keller and Anna Sullivan: her life
Helen Keller She was deaf and blind at 19 months of age because of a fever. Because of his problems communicating in the earliest stages of his development, Hellen was virtually uncontrollable for a while.
Unable to express himself with anyone or understand the things around him, his frustration increased with age and his anger was getting worse. He became a wild, capricious and very aggressive person. Therefore, Hellen's parents found themselves in need of external help from someone specialized in these types of cases: Anna Sullivan.
Anna Sullivan It came from a rather unfavorable environment. Like Helen, she was also blind (she lost her vision at age five and was abandoned). However, Anna was lucky and stopped the Perkins College for the Blind in Boston.
With the passage of time (and after two operations after which he regained his vision), he graduated with honors, and therefore he was selected to take care of the Keller's daughter.
Anna Sullivan's techniques
The first barrier that had to be broken was the communicative one, and for that, Anna had to overcome Hellen's aggressiveness with strength and patience. Later he taught him the fingerprint alphabet. Anna put him in contact with the objects and spelled the words in his hand.
Hellen began to cheer up and take an interest in the surrounding environment. Gradually, Hellen's vocabulary was increasing, which would be an important advance to teach him to speak.
After years of work, Hellen managed to calm down and behave like a civilized, kind and cordial person. In addition, he learned to read and write in Braille, as well as to read from people's lips by touching them with their fingers and feeling the movement of their features and interpreting them.
The teacher-student relationship
Anna helped Hellen in several institutions working with other types of materials and texts to help her evolve, teaching her different lessons and acting as her interpreter. She interpreted in Hellen's hands what the teachers said in class, and transcribed in the books using the Braille system.
Hellen managed to graduate with honors at Radcliffe College, where he wrote "The story of my life". He had an extraordinary power of concentration, very good memory, and very good personal resources to improve.
Beyond history
That of Anna Sullivan and Hellen Keller is a story that is repeated day by day in real life, where there are no actors and actresses, but people of flesh and blood united forever through very special ties.
Although sometimes it can be hard, it will not stop captivating us with the tenderness and sensitivity of its history. It's a movie that I recommend, since after meeting Hellen and Anna we can understand that if each person is required according to their possibilities, each will remain within their limitations. However, anyone is able to develop as required.
