RESPONSES TO THE FILM   (a sampling from various sources)

"Savory American indie fare…impressive first-time writer/director Aaron J. Wiederspahn's The Sensation of Sight is ambitiously ruminative, pondering notions of unforeseen tragedy and responsibility."

                                          -- Lisa Kennedy

                                             Film critic, The Denver Post

"Aaron J. Wiederspahn's lovely, literate debut feature is a delight, a tribute to Film's remarkable and oft-neglected ability to convey character with wit, warmth, and wisdom.  The Sensation of Sight is as engaging and enraging as a Russian novel and as cinematically compelling as the distinctly American artistry of David Lynch by way of Kenneth Lonergan… As always, Strathairn is remarkable… The production design is incredible… The movie raises questions, but in the best sense.  It keeps me thinking, questioning aspects of my own life as well as the characters'… This is the sort of graceful, intelligent filmmaking I always wish to showcase and as an audience member, am always reassured to discover."

                                           --Warren Etheredge

                                              Founder/Curator, The Warren Report, Seattle

"Great, strong, very impressive…The screenplay is astonishing… The Sensation of Sight introduces a rare and touching character practically nonexistent in modern movies—a character who resists with dignity our current slide into cultural decadence and who provokes our nerves and curiosity…acting as a Don Quixote, but for us, as spectators of his journey, contrary to all of the Cervantes characters we know, we dive into an exciting and unexpected universe full of mysteries…The great actor David Strathairn and all the brilliant cast of this unique movie made the right decision to invest their talents in this project…Wiederspahn is surely a new hope in American independent cinema.  We will concentrate our hope on him as we did some years ago on Tarantino.  As Tarantino, he has his luggage full of the best memories of world cinema and knowing what other filmmakers have done for cinema before him is essential to the progress of any filmmaker and film thinker."                

                                          --Leon Cakoff

                                            Artistic Director, Sao Paulo International Film Festival

 "This script was most definitely one of those that one picks up and puts in your pocket, takes home, runs it under the faucet, and puts on the window sill in the sun and watch

it catch the light.  Any light.  Because it had so many facets to catch the light:  whimsy, compassion and forgiveness for all the characters, a wonderful balance of all the story lines, both a poetical lilt and a very grounded insight, and most of all a gentleness and delight… The ensemble work in this film is a testament of the magic that can happen when a group of brave and trusting people all convene for the same reason.  In this case, Aaron Wiederspahn's vision.  It's hard to adequately describe this film, to put it into a simple sound bite that could possibly capture everything about the realization of this story.  I love that it is about very real human conditions, presented patiently, gently,  smilingly, with no judgment.  It's affirmative and hopeful.  What could be better?  And it introduces several actors and a director to be watched, who herein prove to be deft and beautiful messengers."

                                            --David Strathairn

                                               Actor, from his interview with The Warren Report

"Compelling, engrossing story, beautifully shot, and good all-round ensemble cast.  David Strathairn, as usual, is marvelous."

                                            --Ron Henderson

                                               Artistic Director, Denver Film Festival

"A very beautiful film…not derivative of any other filmmaker or style, but definitely informed by a transcendent sensibility, which means filmmakers who make films about things that are beyond us, things that are beyond the physical world that we're in, filmmakers that acknowledge that there's something more than this, that there's a bigger power out there, if you will.  Filmmakers like Bergman, Fellini, Bresson…"

                                            --Aaron B. Smith

                                               Film critic, Spout.com

"A very original film…Sensitive script…Excellent cast… Exudes an elegance that makes us think Wiederspahn will become a great director.."

                                            --Mikel Olacirequi

                                               Artistic Director, San Sebastian International Film Festival

"Absolutely absorbing…one of the highest scoring films submitted to us this year."

                                            --Michael Rabehl

                                               Programming Director, Cinequest Film Festival

"I was deeply impressed.  Aaron Wiederspahn's film was the most important discovery of the 2006 San Sebastian International Film Festival."

                                            --Edvinas Puksta

                                               Artistic Director,  "Kino Pavasaris" (Vilnius

                                               International Film Festival)

"The Sensation of Sight is delightfully smart independent fare that touches the soul on many levels.  In a "Pay It Forward" sort of way, those fortunate enough to meet Finn, the gentle English teacher turned encyclopedia salesman, are enriched and elevated.  David Strathairn is brilliant as Finn and offers a poignant portrayal of a man quietly seeking meaning to his life after a mind numbing tragedy.  The tale is carried thoughtfully forward with intellect, poetry, and pithy insight.

                As with Finn, the surrounding folk struggle to cope with their own search for meaning.  Even in the middle of his own pain Finn provides an inner strength and dignity, solace and encouragement along the way.  Finn was every student's favorite teacher.  He engaged their minds until they wanted to know.  And we want to know.

                Flashbacks show a time of joy and passion in his life, no longer evidenced.  Finn holds himself responsible for the death of a student, feeling that just one word, the right word, could have made a difference in his life.  His grieving and coping is now through the door to door selling of knowledge.

                The Sensation of Sight is from the mind of first-time writer/director Aaron Wiederspahn, and displays a maturity of filmmaking and storytelling that usually comes with experience.  The ensemble is solid, the dialog punctuated with intelligence and hard won wisdom, and the audience is led to a place where they can possibly deal with their struggles.

                Viewing this film you can walk away touched by feelings, motivated toward compassion, engaged to face fears…a tall order, but well within range of this film.  The production was filmed in 18 days, in indie fashion.  While stricken with the typical indie nuance of long pauses for thought and reflection, The Sensation of Sight carries tremendous audience appeal.  Go see this warm fuzzy charmer."

                                           --W. Fred Crow, film critic

                                             Cineblog, San Jose    

"The film has an air, a very intense air, that reminds me of Beckett, the "no words and the abyss" of the man who made us spend so much time "Waiting for Godot."  …And the image of the great David Strathairn in a worn out suit with a tie and hat, dragging a cart full of encyclopedias to be sold on the street corners and parks has a touch, a very particular touch, of Jacques Tati's creations—those characters who deliver letters or get in trouble in mechanized cities.   And maybe because of the mystery, the questions asked by the characters to each other, because of the tremendous scream of the rock singer and the painful silhouette of the boy that follows him like a shadow… or those terrifying seconds that happen during the opening credits with that voice that whispers "wake up, please wake up."  Maybe because of that.  Or because of the boy who steals beer and the teacher who cries over the failures of the past.  Maybe.  Or perhaps because we have Beckett and Tati, and Edward Hopper, and the pervasive aroma of Diane Arbus' pictures…for whatever reasons, The Sensation of Sight is brutally hypnotic."

                                            --Emmas Gluck

                                               Film critic, Diario Vasco (Spain)

 "The movie's vision, which has a totally independent feel, is completely different from what we see in current American movies.  To compare, regarding tempo and form, we could say we are seeing a modern Jim Jarmusch.  Silences and glances predominate much of the film as do dialogues in which something is always hidden…and at the end a revelation ties all the loose ends together."

                                            --Carlos Fernandes

                                               Film critic, CINeol  (Spain)

"The film is deeply moving, a collage of seemingly disparate yet connected stories of those trying to make sense out of life's seeming senselessness.  This is one of those films that you watch the first time for the story—and yearn to watch again to dig more into the visual metaphors and poetry.  The film is helped out by a truly astounding and understated performance by David Strathairn, as well as a surprisingly deep and emotional turn by Ian Somerhalder."

                                            --Sean Gaffney

                                               Screenwriter, Los Angeles

                                              (gaffneyjournal.blogspot.com)

"I can't get the film out of my mind…I want to see it again.  Remarkable accomplishment…going deep into the essence of our very being.

                                            --Gillette Elvgren

                                               Playwright/Professor, Regent University, Virginia Beach

"The film centers around Finn (David Strathairn), a high school English teacher in a small New England town, who goes on a quest for redemption, blaming himself for the suicide of a student.  It's a meditation upon…the great, profound question "why?"…A relentless excavation of tragedy—it's inexplicable, sudden appearance, and its weblike effects upon everyone it touches… a startling achievement for first-time director Aaron Wiederspahn as he slowly leads the filmgoer into the heart of this small-town tragedy."

                                            --Timothy Chase

                                               denverpostphotoblog.com

"I wasn't sure if I was going to like it at first, but as it went on I started to like it better and by the end I loved it!  This is one movie that I want to own when it comes out on DVD."

                                           --"Ratty" at community.eons.com 

"Excellent ensemble cast…true independent filmmaking."

                                           --"enedzel"/IMDb comments

"I have never felt so much a part of the action of a film as I did watching The Sensation of Sight.     The movie is crafted to re-create the tension of the moral drama we are all involved in.  It expertly involves the viewer in a way most films do not through the writing, compositional elements, visual effects, wonderful acting, set design, cinematography, music, the list goes on…I loved that the story builds, crescendos, and finally has a payoff, but not in a fake, propped up way.  Not all the possibilities of the characters' choices are explored, but are left up to the moral imagination.  Not every action and its conclusion are explicit, but implied."

                                           --Ted Crisman