Lara is forced to live her life not only for herself, but for her parents too. Both her mother and father are deaf, so she has to communicate with them through sign language. She can hear and they can not, so she is always going back and forth. She has to communicate with certain people through two different languages, but she does it very well. Music is her passion and she loves to play, but her father does not want her pursuing to become a musician. I partly think this is because he can not hear her play and since it is his daughter's talent, he is bothered he cant experience it with her. Throughout the entire film Lara never really got a break for herself, except for at the end. Ever since she was a little girl she had to be the caretaker of her parents and help them communicate with others around them, since they could not speak for themselves. She had to be the translator and do all the work, whether it was with accountants at the bank, her school teachers, or anyone else. She was the child, but the reality of the situation forced her to become the adult, and her parents the children. Lara had to baby her parents and was the mother figure to her younger sister.
Lara seems to get along better with her mother than her father. Her mother is more lenient and open to things, especially her playing the clarinet or going to visit her Aunt Clarissa. She doesn't ever object to anything, even when it secretly bothers her. Lara's mother explains to her husband that even though Lara is their daughter, she isn't their property. He comes off as being stubborn and even somewhat abusive when he slaps Lara. He orders her around and makes her stop playing the clarinet, turn off the music, and do her homework. He is never open for "discussion" with her and basically shuts himself out of her world. He is jealous of his sister Clarissa from unresolved issues from their childhood, and he opposes Lara spending quality time with her. I feel like Lara's mother and father are very happy together and love each other. They never fought and since they were both dead they could relate to one another on a whole new level. Her mother helps her father to understand the situation better, and come to peace with it. She even buys two tickets to a professional clarinet concert for Lara, even though she knew she would not be able to hear the music herself. When Lara's mother dies, her father becomes especially detached and lost because his comfort zone, lover, and best friend are forever gone.
At first, Lara has a great relationship with her Aunt Clarissa. She wants to be like her and look like her and play music like her. Clarissa was her role model growing up because they shared so much in common and Lara was just amazed by her Aunt's talents and beauty. Even in the opening scene they are ice skating together and Lara cant stop smiling. She got to experience everyday things with her Aunt that she could not experience with her parents because of their condition. They went swimming in the lake, rode bicycles, went camping, drank wine, took pictures, traveled, and played the clarinet together. In a way they were like mother and daughter, best friends, and sisters all at the same time. We learn of Lara's relationship with Clarissa when she allows Clarissa to cut her hair. Lara was so fascinated on looking like her when she was her age that she let Clarissa chop all her beautiful hair off. Once it was gone, though, Lara begins to cry because she missed her long hair. As the movie progresses and Lara is in Berlin, she begins to pull away from Clarissa and sees the bad things about her, and not just the good. Even at dinner Lara can no longer keep her mouth shut and tells Clarissa how she now really feels. She attacks Clarissa saying she is jealous of her music and only wants her to get into the school for her own sake, and not Lara's. She doesn't understand why Clarissa didn't want her playing slow peaceful music, but instead fast and upbeat notes. Lara got so fed up to the point where she actually moved out of her Aunt's home and into her Uncle's new apartment.
