''A Silent Agreement'' is a 2017 Australian romantic

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

written and directed by Davo Hardy. It was the first theatrically released, cinematic film to feature

Auslan Auslan () is the majority sign language of the Australian Deaf community. The term ''Auslan'' is a portmanteau of "Australian Sign Language", coined by Trevor Johnston in the 1980s, although the language itself is much older. Auslan is relate ...

( Australian Sign Language) as both a main language of the film's dialogue, as well as a key plot element in the story. The plot concerns Reuben (played by Davo Hardy), who overcomes a

speech impediment Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...

with the use of

, with help from his

profoundly deaf Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

boyfriend (played by Joshua Sealy). Having built up Reuben's confidence enough to encourage his higher ambitions, Derek contacts an Australian screen legend, Gareth (played by Paul Mercurio) to help

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

Reuben in his burgeoning career. But shortly after seeing the potential in Reuben's autobiographical

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

, Gareth takes over the project for his own gain and sanitizes the story to suit a wider audience, thereby cutting Reuben out of the equation. Forced to draw upon the

courage Courage (also called bravery or valor) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in battle. Physical courage is bravery in the face of physical pain, h ...

and

self-actualization Self-actualization, in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is the highest level of psychological development, where personal potential is fully realized after basic bodily and ego needs have been fulfilled. Self-actualization was coined by the organism ...

that he has gathered through the experience, Reuben stands up to his bully and wins the support of those who had once opposed him, for the greater moral good. Davo Hardy has stated in interviews that the film was a response to his film mentors telling him he could not be a director because of his real-life stutter.

Plot

Reuben Heywood is an aspiring writer, who grapples with

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, manifesting as a

stutter Stuttering, also known as stammering, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words, or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the ...

, while attempting to build a career as both a writer and actor. When a performance at an amateur theatre showcase goes awry, Reuben is bullied by the troupe leader and a

sign language interpreter Interpreting is a translational activity in which one produces a first and final target-language output on the basis of a one-time exposure to an expression in a source language. The most common two modes of interpreting are simultaneous inter ...

. Derek Shanahan, a profoundly deaf man from the audience (played by Joshua Sealy) comes to vindicate him and the two form a friendship which quickly turns into a sexual relationship. As Derek and Reuben discuss their mutual ambitions within the arts and

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

, Reuben discloses his troubled past and the origins of his speech impediment. Derek encourages Reuben to steer his work away from theater and into independent film, offering to support him, where needed. Shortly after, Derek seeks out Reuben's dream mentor, Gareth Donahue (played by Paul Mercurio) to help him bring his story, titled ''The Burden of Being Me'' to the screen. Gareth, meanwhile, has reached a low point in his career. He is over 50, lamenting his lost youth and fading career. Hungry for a chance to make a comeback, Gareth agrees to meet with Reuben and discuss their collaboration on ''The Burden of Being Me''. Derek is also present at the meeting and is quick to point out Gareth's self-obsessed

narcissism Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism exists on a co ...

. but Reuben overlooks his observations, blind-sighted by the support that Gareth offers. Derek's mother, Faye Shanahan, and sister, Courtney, are deeply protective of Derek and treat Reuben's artistic ambitions with

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

. Faye, a painter, discourages Derek's involvement with Reuben's

filmmaking Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, casti ...

, in favor of noble causes to support

deaf education Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and othe ...

and advocating

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

in the footsteps of Helen Keller. Reuben recognizes the

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

and continues to pursue his film with Derek and Gareth. Almost immediately after receiving the script of ''The Burden of Being Me'', Gareth begins to amend the characters and plot to suit him as both an actor and a producer. His wife, Lillian Donahue, a highly respected

entertainment attorney Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousan ...

, is captivated by the screenplay and recognizes Reuben as a talented writer. But Gareth uses his industry expertise and

gas-lighting Gaslighting is a colloquialism, loosely defined as manipulating someone so as to make them question their own reality. The term derives from the title of the 1944 American film ''Gaslight'', which was based on the 1938 British theatre play ''Ga ...

tactics to seize

creative control Artistic control or creative control is a term commonly used in media production, such as movies, television, and music production. A person with artistic control has the authority to decide how the final product will appear. In movies, this c ...

from Reuben, while also manipulating Lillian to help him, using her long-delayed desire to have children as leverage for

emotional blackmail Emotional blackmail and FOG are terms popularized by psychotherapist Susan Forward about controlling people in relationships and the theory that fear, obligation and guilt (FOG) are the transactional dynamics at play between the controller and th ...

. Obediently, Lillian writes up contracts that highly favor Gareth's interests and leave Reuben empty handed. Immediately conflicted by guilt, Lillian stands idly by, as Gareth pressures Reuben to sign the contracts and grant him 100% of the

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...

. When Reuben realizes that he has been swindled, Faye offers to help finance Reuben's next project, effectively giving her blessing for he and Derek to collaborate in the future. This offer is quickly retracted when Reuben accidentally makes a spectacle of himself at Courtney's engagement party and embarrasses the family. Derek sides with Faye, citing that Reuben has acted in appropriately. Reuben is asked to leave the party, at once. Shortly after, Reuben receives an emotional call from Courtney, saying that Derek has suddenly died from an accident. At the funeral, Faye confronts Reuben, imploring him to continue honoring Derek's memory, but also to honor himself. Meanwhile, Lillian reads an article about Reuben's stage play, dedicated to Derek's memory. Gareth's only response is to make sure the stage play has no affiliation with the film he now owns the rights to, or else they'd have to sue. Incensed at Gareth's heartlessness, Lillian lashes out at him and vows to reverse the contracts that she had made for Gareth. Concluding that her chance to have children has passed her by, Lillian abandons Gareth and seeks Reuben out at the theater, where he and Derek met. She encourages him to rewrite his story from scratch and amend key elements, so that Gareth cannot claim

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

. Similarly, Faye reinstates her support of Reuben, around the time of her first

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

since her son's death. One by one, Gareth's collaborators abandon his project and he is left without any supporters at around the time that Reuben develops his new film, ''The Purpose of Being Me''. At the a screening of his film, Reuben thanks the audience for attending, including those who may have originally discouraged him. He thanks them for providing the strength he needed to continue in his pursuits, even if it was only to prove them wrong. As a final thought, Reuben comes to terms with his speech impediment and thanks those who supported his journey, saying "actions speak louder than words."

Cast

* Davo Hardy as Reuben Heywood * Joshua Sealy as Derek Shanahan *

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in '' Strictly Ballroom'' 1992 and his role as a judge on TV series '' Dancing with the Stars''. ...

as Gareth Donahue * Sage Godrei as Lillian Donahue * Jennifer Maclaughlan as Courtney Shanahan * Rhonda Rourke as Faye Shanahan

Reception

Premiering in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

, on 28 September 2017, at the height of the

Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey The Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey was a national survey designed to gauge support for legalising same-sex marriage in Australia. The survey was held via the postal service between 12 September and 7 November 2017. Unlike voting in e ...

, the film gained immediate attention for its unapologetic depiction of same-sex relationships without a plot revolving around

coming-out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

or the

sex industry The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide Sex worker, sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of s ...

. Effectively, showing an everyday

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character ...

for a couple who happen to be two men. The film also brought

back into the spotlight. On 11 April 2017, during a live interview for ''The Morning Show'', the hosts

Larry Emdur Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian television personality. Emdur is currently co-host of ''The Morning Show (TV program), The Morning Show'' alongside Kylie Gillies, and host of ''The Chase Australia''. The duo also hosted the ...

and

Kylie Gillies Kylie Gillies (born 4 May 1967) is Australian television presenter for the Seven Network, based in Sydney, Australia. Gillies is the co-host of '' The Morning Show'' with Larry Emdur. Career Gillies was born in Tamworth and attended Tamworth Hi ...

attempted to discuss the 25-year anniversary of ''Strictly Ballroom'', but Paul continued to steer the conversation back to ''A Silent Agreement''. He was cast in ''Promised'' a few months later. The film was submitted into many festivals for its use of

, qualifying it as a

foreign language film World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

. Many LGBT-related festivals and organisations to do with the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

and

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

were lauding of ''A Silent Agreement'' for its authentic depictions of deaf characters, using deaf actors. The DVD was released in Australia on 8 December 2018, after its extended festival screenings; including special seminar screenings for its

educational Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Vari ...

importance in support of

and

speech pathology Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

streaming service

Dekkoo Dekkoo is a Philadelphia-based subscription streaming service with a focus on LGBT+ related content, particularly by and for gay men. It features a mixture of programs from other sources and original content, and derives its income from subscript ...

began to distribute the film from June 2019.

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

released an NTSC DVD in September 2019.

Accolades

References

External links

*
Dekkoo page

Official Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Agreement 2017 films 2017 romantic drama films 2010s coming-of-age drama films Australian Sign Language Films LGBT-related coming-of-age films Australian LGBT-related films Australian romantic drama films Gay-related films LGBT-related films based on actual events LGBT-related romantic drama films Films about deaf people 2017 independent films Australian independent films Films set in Sydney Romance films based on actual events Films shot in Sydney Sign-language films 2017 LGBT-related films 2010s English-language films