Four Weddings and a Funeral
This acclaimed British comedy centres on the intermittent romance between a charming, bumbling, Englishman (Charles) and a beautiful American woman (Carrie), who seem always to run into each other at weddings. At the first wedding, Charles (Hugh Grant) and Carrie (Andie McDowell) meet, enjoying a fleeting liaison. This is rekindled several months later when they unexpectedly meet at another wedding. Unfortunately, Carrie has become engaged to another man, a fact that complicates things for both of them. Charles goes shopping with Carrie and is late meeting his brother David (David Bower), who is deaf and uses British Sign Language, which Charles also knows. They communicate their intimate thoughts (which are subtitled), while Carrie stands there, not knowing what they are saying. David is also shown in a couple of scenes developing a love interest of his own. The third wedding, held in a Scottish castle, is Carrie's to Hamish (Corin Regrave), which Charles and his friends are invited to. Here, one of the friends, Gareth, dies of a heart attack, leading to the funeral, a serious but well-handled moment of the film.
The climax comes at the fourth wedding, Charles's own to an old girlfriend, Henrietta, since he believes Carrie is firmly with Hamish. As the moment for Charles to marry draws closer, Carrie arrives and tells Charles she has broken off with Hamish. Charles is deeply confused and doesn't know what to do. David becomes aware of Charles's dilemma. Charles decides to go ahead with his own wedding but, as he is about to make his vows, David Signs that he has an objection. There then ensues a conversation in Sign about why Charles should not marry. This is subtitled accurately for the audience and spoken by Charles in a censored form to the congregation. Charles then admits he loves someone else and is knocked out by Henrietta. The film ends with Carrie and Charles getting back together, agreeing not to marry, and David and his girlfriend getting married.
Richard Curtis's script has humour and timing and includes a disabled supporting character without patronising or stereotyping. Curtis's involvement with Comic Relief, which supports the empowerment of disabled people with funding, may have played a part in causing Curtis to include a disabled character in this positive way. The trend was continued in Notting Hill (1999, Roger Michell, UK/USA), another Curtis film, in which one of Hugh Grant's character's friends is a wheelchair user. This portrayal is not quite as successful because Gina McKee, who played the part, is not a disabled person.
Make sure you prepare the ground by covering the material in the Introducing disability in class guidelines before looking at issues in any specific film.
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