''Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' is a 2017

superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...

written, produced, directed and starred by

Emilio Insolera Emilio Insolera (born 29 January 1979) is an Italian deaf actor and producer, known for '' Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' (2017).Archived aGhostarchiveand thWayback Machine In 2022, Insolera had a role in Simon Kinberg's '' The 355''. ...

. The story revolves around a deaf

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

, Tom Clerc (played by Insolera), from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

who is a carrier of a powerful

genetic mutation In biology, a mutation is an alteration in the nucleic acid sequence of the genome of an organism, virus, or extrachromosomal DNA. Viral genomes contain either DNA or RNA. Mutations result from errors during DNA or viral replication, mitosis ...

. He is sent to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

with his colleague, Ken Wong, to investigate crimes believed to have been committed by

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

deaf mutants. The film's characters, both villains and agents, use sign language as their superhuman powers. The film also stars

Carola Insolera Carola Insolera is a Norwegian born fashion model signed with Women Management Milano. Early life Insolera was born deaf and comes from a deaf family. Since early age, she was a very active entertainer in the sign language community, has work ...

, Ben Bahan, Hiroshi Vava, Humberto Insolera and Noboru Kuragawa. The film makes several references to

deaf history The history of deaf people and deaf culture make up deaf history. The Deaf culture is a culture that is centered on sign language and relationships among one another. Unlike other cultures the Deaf culture is not associated with any native lan ...

, culture, and sign language linguistics. Six languages are spoken and signed in the film: English, Japanese, Italian,

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...

Japanese Sign Language , also known by the acronym JSL, is the dominant sign language in Japan and is a complete natural language, distinct from but influenced by the spoken Japanese language. Population There are 304,000 Deaf and Hard of Hearing people who are abov ...

and

Italian Sign Language Italian Sign Language (, LIS) is the visual language used by deaf people in Italy. Deep analysis of it began in the 1980s, along the lines of William Stokoe's research on American Sign Language in the 1960s. Until the beginning of the 21st cen ...

Premise

Sign Gene is a genetic mutation present in only 29 out of the 300

gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...

s responsible for causing deafness. All deaf mutants who are carriers of this genetic mutation turn out to be superheroes with the ability to create

superpowers Superpower describes a sovereign state or supranational union that holds a dominant position characterized by the ability to exert influence and project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, tec ...

through the use of

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...

. They are blessed with arcane powers such as being able to make doors close by signing the word 'close', or having their hands metamorphose into weapons which can spew fire by signing the word 'weapon'.

Plot

Tom Clerc is a deaf secret agent who comes from a multi-generational deaf family. He is a descendant of

Laurent Clerc Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American deaf history. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and dea ...

, considered the Father of the Deaf in America. In the film, Laurent Clerc brought sign language to the United States two centuries earlier. Tom is a carrier of SGx29, the powerful Sign Gene mutation. However, he lost a significant portion of his powers during a battle with Jux Clerc, Tom's brother and the leader of the group 1.8.8.0., an evil organization dedicated to exterminating Sign Gene mutants. Hugh Denison is the head of the Q.I.A. (QuinPar Intelligence Agency), an agency affiliated with

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

and composed of selected agents with the Sign Gene mutation. Hugh sends Tom and his colleague, Ken Wong, to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. The pair end up fighting a Japanese gang led by Tatsumi Fuwa. During their encounters with the gang, Ken and Tom learn that they can only win the conflict by conforming to the Japanese way. Along with his journey, Tom learns that his powers are not lost.

Cast

as Tom Clerc, mutant with superhuman powers, descendant of

. *

as Kate Massieu, descendant of

Jean Massieu Jean Massieu (; 1772 – July 21, 1846) was a pioneering deaf educator. One of six deaf siblings, he was denied schooling until age thirteen when he met Abbé Sicard, who enrolled him in the Institute national des jeunes sourds de Bordeaux ...

, pioneering deaf educator. * Ben Bahan as Hugh Denison, head of the QuinPar Intelligence Agency and descendant of James Denison. * Humberto Insolera as Jux Clerc, Tom's brother and the face of the 1.8.8.0. (International Genetic Genealogy Organization). The name of the organization makes reference to the Milan Conference in 1880. * Hiroshi Vava as Tatsumi Fuwa, boss of a Japanese gang. * Danny Gong as Ken Wong, Tom's colleague at the QuinPar Intelligence Agency. *

Noboru Kurakawa is a Japanese bodybuilder and professional wrestler better known by his ring name . He is currently a freelancer, working most notably for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a four-time World Tag Team Champion with longtime partner Ze ...

as Tatsumi Fuwa's personal bodyguard

Production

Development

''Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' was shot in Japan, the United States, and Italy. Originally starting out as a short film, it garnered a groundswell of interest which led Insolera to believe the film had a chance of a larger production and attracting a bigger audience. He rewrote the script into a feature-length film. Casting opportunities were advertised by of word of mouth. Insolera was especially interested in actors who were native signers fluent in sign language.

Historical, cultural and linguistic references

''Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' makes several coded references to deaf history, deaf culture, and sign language linguistics. Q.I.A. stands for QuinPar Intelligence Agency, and QuinPar refers to the five parameters, the phonological components in sign language linguistics that form signs: handshape, movement, location, orientation, and non-manual signals. Agent Tom Clerc shares the surname of a famous figure in deaf history,

, a deaf educator who brought sign language to the U.S., and 1.8.8.0. is a reference to the Second International Congress on Deaf Education, which took place in Milan, Italy, in 1880. It was there that educators codified their recommendation to eliminate sign language from deaf education. Figures such as

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

and

are present in the film as well. The film's plot pays homage to

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

and ''

Grindhouse A grindhouse or action house is an American term for a theatre that mainly shows low-budget horror, splatter, and exploitation films for adults. According to historian David Church, this theater type was named after the "grind policy", a f ...

''.

Release

The film had its world premiere on September 8, 2017, in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and was released in theaters by the

UCI Cinemas UCI Cinemas (''United Cinemas International'') is a brand of cinema, currently operating in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil, which has been owned since 2004 by Odeon Cinemas Group, whose owner is now AMC Theatres, except for the UCI Cinem ...

on September 14, 2017. It had its U.S. release on April 13, 2018 and release in Japan on September 14, 2018.

Critical response

''Sign Gene: The First Deaf Superheroes'' received positive reviews from critics. Michael Rechtshaffen of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', described the movie as one with a, "fresh, unique filmmaking voice" and a "fast-paced potpourri of stock footage combined with sign-language and stroboscopic action sequences performed by a deaf cast, video effects simulating grainy, scratchy film stock and that aforementioned all-enveloping sound mix, with an end result that proves as wildly inventive as it is empowering." The Italian newspaper, ''

Avvenire (English: "Future") is a daily newspaper which is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is based in Milan, Italy. History and profile was founded in 1968 in Milan through the merger of two Catholic newspapers: of Bologna and of Milan. The ...

'', declared the film will mostly likely please the younger generation, who are "accustomed to the rapid and psychedelic language of Japanese video games or cartoons". Writing for ASVOFF, Giorgia Cantarini said that the story is intricate and "very fascinating. The sounds create an unexpected important part, sometimes overwhelming o anyonewho is watching. tall happens very fast and astonishes you with a vibrant energy." Michela Trigari of ''

Corriere della Sera (; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...

'', called ''Sign Gene'' an "experimental film" that uses science fiction as a medium to capture the imagination and "make visible what is invisible to the eyes." Emilio Insolera appeared on the cover of

Tokyo Weekender ''Tokyo Weekender'' is an English-language magazine published in Japan. Founded in 1970 by Corky Alexander and Susan Scully, ''Tokyo Weekender'' was first published bi-monthly. Now ''Tokyo Weekender'' is published monthly and is distributed in e ...

’s November 2018 issue taken by worldwide known photographer

Leslie Kee Leslie Kee (born 5 April 1971) is a Singaporean photographer based in Japan. Early life Leslie Kee was born on 5 April 1971, in Singapore. His biological parents were never legally married; His father is a Japanese business man, who visited Sin ...

and in thirteen full pages fashion story on

Vanity Fair Italia ''Vanity Fair'' is an American monthly magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States. The first version of ''Vanity Fair'' was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in ...

's January 2019 number 5 with Carola Insolera taken by Rosi Di Stefano.

References

External links

* * * {{rotten-tomatoes, sign_gene 2017 films 2010s superhero films American superhero films 2017 science fiction action films 2017 fantasy films 2010s Japanese-language films American Sign Language films Japanese Sign Language films Italian Sign Language films Italian superhero films 2010s Italian-language films Italian coming-of-age films Italian science fiction action films Films shot in Japan Films set in Osaka Films set in Tokyo Films set in New York City Films set in Rome Films about deaf people Italian science fiction adventure films Italian-language American films Japan in non-Japanese culture 2010s English-language films 2010s American films English-language science fiction action films English-language fantasy films Japanese-language American films