In theaters

SOUND AND FURY, 80 minutes, no MPAA rating, directed by Josh Aronson. Starts tomorrow, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

Josh Aronson’s provocative, Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Sound and Fury,” offers an intense, heated debate on the pros and cons of the cochlear ear implant – a device that has the controversial ability to allow a deaf person to hear.

That’s right – controversial. To those who can hear, it might come as something of a surprise to learn that there would be any debate, argument or controversy over giving one the ability to hear.

But as this powerful, emotionally devastating film shows with remarkable clarity and evenhandedness, there are two staunchly opposed sides to the issue, each of which is passionate in explaining either why the cochlear implant is important- or how it has the ability to wipe out a culture all together.

The film follows two related families from Long Island, N.Y.: Chris Artinian and his wife, Mari, each of whom can hear, and their twin infant sons, one of whom was born deaf; and Chris’ brother, Peter Artinian, his wife, Nita, and their three children, including 6-year-old Heather, all of whom were born deaf.

Chris and Peter’s mother and father can hear, but Mari’s mother and father cannot. As the film opens, the entire Artinian family is about to be forced to come to terms with what it means to be deaf when the merits of the cochlear implant are weighed and exhaustively considered in kitchens, backyard barbecues, living rooms and centers for the deaf.

Indeed, as Chris and Mari decide to go ahead with the implant for their son Peter III, and as Peter and Nita choose not to do the same for their daughter, Heather, who wants the implant so she can communicate better with her hearing friends at school, the result is an all-out family war. Chris, Mari and Chris’ hearing parents accuse Peter and Nita of child abuse while Peter, Nita and Mari’s deaf parents accuse Chris and Mari of turning their backs on a culture that’s as important to them as one’s ethnic background.

Fear underscores everything here, and to Aronson’s great credit, his cameras never get in the way of the drama as it builds or the rage as it flows.

Some might feel that a documentary about the issues surrounding ear implants wouldn’t be gripping, but they should think again – Aronson has mined a subject so explosive and unearthed emotions so raw, his film isn’t just important, it’s absolutely riveting. What does it mean to be deaf in a world that’s so technologically advanced that deafness might one day be eradicated as easily as one’s skin color? See this excellent film to find out.

Grade: A

On video and DVD

CAST AWAY. 143 minutes, PG-13, directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by William Broyles Jr.

Throughout much of Robert Zemeckis’ “Cast Away,” a harrowing adventure film of a modern-day Robinson Crusoe stuck on a remote Pacific island, Zemeckis proves a master of nuance, shading and control, only faltering at the end when his populist instincts take over and he presents an ending awash in suds.

The film stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, a chubby Everyman and Federal Express manager who leaves his girlfriend, Kelly (Helen Hunt), to take a flight abroad on Christmas Eve. But when Chuck’s plane smashes into the Pacific, he narrowly escapes with his life only to be beaten by high waves, winds and torrential rain. Somehow, he drifts ashore to a deserted island – where the real fight for his survival begins.

Without much use for words or any use for a musical score, Zemeckis relies solely on Hanks’ painstaking efforts to stay alive and the raw beauty of the island to carry the bulk of the film. Some of the most poignant scenes involve Chuck’s relationship with a volleyball that washes up on shore with him. Now bearing a face painted in Chuck’s own blood, this ball, named Wilson, becomes Chuck’s Friday – his only friend on an island that seems determined to undo him at every turn.

If “Cast Away” reaffirms nature’s power over modern man, then it’s also about how modern man’s primitive instincts are still a formidable foe against whatever Mother Nature has up her sleeve. Indeed, as the years pass and Chuck’s once fleshy body becomes a steel rod of determination (Hanks lost 50 pounds for the role), “Cast Away” underscores the sheer power of the human spirit with a giant exclamation point.

The ending does allow Zemeckis to treat Chuck’s experience on the island almost as something of a gift. But with Hunt once again playing Helen Hunt and Zemeckis suddenly turning on the sap in a film that nearly escaped it, the experience of watching this otherwise terrific, rousing film is slightly cheapened just when it should have been most poignant.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

THE VIDEO CORNER

Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Cast Away ? A-

Crouching Tiger,

Hidden Dragon ? A+

The House Of Mirth ? B

Shadow of the

Vampire ? B+

Traffic ? A

Antitrust ? D

Before Night Falls ? A

Best in Show ? A

Requiem for a Dream ? A

Vertical Limit ? B-

Pay it Forward ? C

Duets ? D

Quills ? B

What Women Want ? B

Yi Yi ? A

All the Pretty Horses ? C-

Miss Congeniality ? B

The Emperor’s

New Groove ? A-

Little Nicky ? F

One Day in

September ? B+

Bamboozled ? B+

Finding Forrester ? B+

The Ladies Man ? D+

Bounce ? B+

Men of Honor ? C-

Space Cowboys ? B+

Girlfight ? A-

102 Dalmatians ? B+

The Legend of

Bagger Vance ? D

Kestrel’s Eye ? A

Red Planet ? C+

Rugrats in Paris ? B+

Time Regained ? B+

Charlie’s Angels ? B+

The Legend of

Drunken Master ? B+

Lucky Numbers ? D-

Remember the Titans ? D

Almost Famous ? A

The Crew ? D

The 6th Day ? C+

The Tao of Steve ? B+

Meet the Parents ? B+

Wonder Boys ? A

Bedazzled ? B-

Lost Souls ? F

Nurse Betty ? C+

Beautiful ? D

Book of Shadows:

Blair Witch II ? F

The Original

Kings of Comedy ? B+

The Watcher ? F