Where do I begin? Shall I speak of Mrs Bancroft's performance,one of the finest you can watch on a screen?Shall I tell about Patty Duke's tour de force?Shall I praise the mind-boggling work of Arthur Penn,directing the long fight around the table?This movie is a miracle in itself.Behind her dark spectacles,the teacher hides buried terrors,that's why she's bound to understand her unusual pupil.She knows that the solution to her problems lies in herself,that the family is a prison .The parents do not see(or do not want to see) that they erect a wall between their daughter and the world outside by poisoning her with protection.That's why Annie seems brutal,hard on Helen.She could not have broken the wall if she had been a "nice" teacher.Among all Penn's great movies ,"miracle worker" is the only one that has an optimistic end.Since,other directors have tackled autism(children of a lesser God,rain man)but no one has surpassed this black and white gem.
Review of The Miracle Worker
