“I can’t be a hero because I have Down syndrome.” “What does this have to do with your heart? Who told you such a thing?” How often do we give up on a dream simply because we were born with bad cards – or even because others convinced us of this? However, sometimes one meeting is enough to change everything. This is The Peanut Falcon, a great little film by Tyler Neilson and Mike Schwartz.
Two people walk along the endless roads of the American South. Either vagabonds, or fugitives, or a detachment on a special assignment. Zack, having driven an old videotape to holes, follows his dream – to become a professional wrestler. It does not matter that the guy has Down syndrome: if you really want something, everything is possible, even sneaking out of the nursing home, where the state assigned him, the restless one.
Fisherman Tyler goes rather not to, but from: he has made enemies for himself, flees, and Zach, frankly, imposed himself on him. However, Tyler does not seem to be against the company: the boy replaces his dead brother, and very soon the small detachment turns into a real brotherhood, and the story of informal renegades into a parable of freedom and friendship. More precisely, about friends as about a family that we choose for ourselves.
There are more than a dozen such parables in world cinema, but The Peanut Falcon does not claim to be original in terms of plot. Rather, this is an occasion to once again touch upon something quivering, real, vulnerable in us. And also – to remind you that a lot can be done – especially if you do not know that this is impossible.
Not only “Rain Man”: several films about people with special needs
• “Come as you are” (Hasta la Vista, 2011) is a film whose title was translated into Russian, to put it mildly, not very well. It is not very clear who and where should come: one hero is blind, the second is paralyzed, the third moves in a wheelchair, but all three really want love. In a sense, the film continues the theme raised in “… And in my soul I dance” (Inside I’m Dancing, 2004), but leaving more hope for the best. However, the bitter residue from it is greater than, for example, from «1+1» (Untouchables, 2011).
• “No matter what” (Mein Blind Date mit dem Leben, 2017) is a comedy drama based on real events that even a sudden loss of vision is not an obstacle on the way to a dream, if you continue to see it – albeit now with an inner eye.
• “Day Eight” (Le huitième jour, 1996) is an honest tape whose director, Jaco van Dormel, does not seem to have set himself the goal of idealizing people with Down syndrome. It can be very, very difficult for those around them and especially those close to them, but contact with their world, which is so different from what we are used to, allows us to understand a lot about ourselves. About the same – “Traveling with Sister” (Riding the Bus with My Sister, 2005).