‘Moonlight Sonata’ — Pics

By:

Elissa Anderson

December 6, 2019 5:40PM EST

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Portrait of Irene Brodsky, the director of HBO documentary ‘Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements’

Portrait of Irene Brodsky, the director of HBO documentary ‘Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements’ — ‘Moonlight Sonata’ director Irene Brodsky decided to make a documentary about her son Jonas and his experience with deafness. The film examines how his deafness has affected his family, including his deaf grandparents. Both of Irene’s parents are deaf, however, deafness skipped a generation and Brodsky and her two siblings all have normal hearing. She and HBO felt that there was a story to be told about what raising a child with deafness is like. They began shooting the project when Jonas was just 1and 1/2 years old. However, they stopped until 9 years later when Jonas was 11 and had developed such a love for piano that he became interested in learning Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.”

Irene began wondering about when Beethoven had written the piece, since she knew that he had gone deaf during the height of his career. Amazingly, she discovered that “Moonlight Sonata” was the very piece that Beethoven wrote during the year that he was losing his hearing in a major way.

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Mosaic graphic from the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ film

Mosaic graphic from the ‘Moonlight Sonata’ film — Both Jonas and Beethoven had their hearing at birth. Beethoven began going deaf in 1798 at the age of 28 and by the time he was 31 he had lost 60% of his hearing. It was at this point in 1801, aged 31, that Beethoven completed his “Moonlight Sonata.” Unfortunately, Jonas began losing his hearing around the age of 2.

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Movie Poster for ‘Moonlight Sonata’

Movie Poster for ‘Moonlight Sonata’ — The film includes footage of the director’s son Jonas as he began to go deaf around age 2 as a result of a genetic condition. His parents decided to have him fitted with surgically implanted cochlear implants in order to restore his hearing.

The majority of the footage was shot when he was 11 and trying to master Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” The film also explores the beauty and positive aspects of the deaf experience. Jonas’s deaf grandparents teach him “the value of deafness and the value of relating to people as a deaf person and communicating with people as a deaf person”, because eye contact and visual communication are so important and often underused.

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Jonas Brodsky playing Moonlight Sonata on the piano

Jonas Brodsky playing Moonlight Sonata on the piano — Jonas Brodsky, director Irene Brodsky’s son, is seen practicing Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” on the piano over and over again in the film. Jonas, 11, enjoys music and wanted to learn the piece, which is one of Beethoven’s most famous compositions. It also happens to be a favorite of his paternal grandfather and it was his grandfather who introduced him to the piece.

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Jonas Brodsky with his grandfather

Jonas Brodsky with his grandfather — Jonas wears two cochlear implants and is able to hear most sound. Though he still can have trouble deciphering conversations when mulitple people are talking at once. Jonas wasn’t aware that Beethoven wrote “Moonlight Sonata” while going deaf, he was simply drawn to the piece. His attraction to music is often more about the structure of the piece rather about than the composer or his history.

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Jonas as a young child wearing one of his first cochlear implants

Jonas as a young child wearing one of his first cochlear implants — Jonas began losing his hearing as a toddler. His mother, director Irene Brodsky, began filming their journey when Jonas was 2, but she tabled the project to focus on Jonas’s hearing treatment plans. She picked up filming when Jonas was 11, and was living the life of a typical energetic boy, going to school, playing soccer and taking piano lessons.

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Jonas Brodsky with his grandfather on the beach

Jonas Brodsky with his grandfather on the beach — Jonas grandfather and grandmother, Irene’s parents, are both deaf. However, while his grandfather, Paul, was born deaf, his grandmother, Sally, gradually became deaf as a toddler, like Jonas, after being born with the ability to hear. The couple met each other when they were three and attended the same private school for hearing. They did not have modern assitance with their disability at that time, as their school did not believe in teaching sign language and both students had to focus on learning to read lips, and speaking without being able to hear.

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Jonas Brodsky enjoying himself at an amusement park

Jonas Brodsky enjoying himself at an amusement park — Jonas has not allowed his deafness to define him. While he can take off part of his cochlear implants when he wants to concentrate and enjoy silence, he participates in all of the same activities as children who have hearing. He loves going to amusement parks and he loves music. Irene Brodsky points out in her exclusive interview with HollywoodLife that one of more modern misconceptions about deafness is that “music is not the terrain of a deaf person.” Jonas, however, is dedicated to playing the piano.

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