The Sound of Metal, 2019.
Directed by Darius Marder.
Starring Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff, Mathieu Amalric, Domenico Toledo, Chelsea Lee, Shaheem Sanchez and Chris Perfetti.
SYNOPSIS:
Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is forced to face some home truths, as a life altering event sees everything he values slip away. As sound is replaced by silence Ruben’s world is changed forever.
Few films intentionally seek out silence and exist within the moments most movies overlook. In The Sound of Metal, every moment of audio, either muffled or magnified carries meaning. Screenwriters Darius and Abraham Marder ask their audience to process film in a different way, by making point of view an essential dramatic element. Conversations create their own dynamic; words are formed through physical expression and passions punctuated by fevered gestures.
Riz Ahmed’s Ruben sits at the centre of this maelstrom, as a drummer who is slowly losing his hearing. Those first moments of realisation are a combination of performance and sound design working in unison. Barely veiled panic, instant isolation and overwhelming stretches of inaudible communication throw actor and audience in together.
Director Darius Marder tunes into the immediacy of this life altering event without using any tricks. By switching perspective, audiences get to appreciate Ruben’s mounting panic, as well as the emotional fall out experienced elsewhere. Olivia Cooke excels as Lou, playing both life partner and situational pragmatist. In situ and perpetually in the moment, The Sound of Metal is free from artifice and trades in raw emotion.
Production designer Jeremy Woodward, who worked on both Knives Out and Ben Affleck’s gangster flick Live By Night, captures this realism effortlessly. Locations seem stumbled upon rather than dressed by design, while cinematographer Daniel Bouquet exists in the moment. Lighting feels arbitrary, blocking non-existent and every performance, however small, honest in a way which hits home.
Stand outs beyond the central pairing include Paul Raci as Joe. His role as the bedrock of a deaf community is astonishing in its naturalism. Playing off the raw intensity of Ruben, Joe is part counsellor, confidant and role model. His openness in the beginning is disarming and paternal, as he offers hope amongst the emotional debris. In the aftermath of a casual betrayal, which comes later, Paul Raci sucks every ounce of oxygen from the room. Pathos, poignancy and pent up frustrations clash in a silence that devastates. It is a defining moment amongst a multitude, allowing person and performance to become almost indivisible.
The Sound of Metal is proof that silences possess their own unique melody and means of expression. For many this may come to redefine their relationship with a medium too often disregarded, overlooked or ignored. With six Oscar nominations and two BAFTA wins for sound design and editing, audio has never been more integral to a story.
With titles including Gravity, Arrival and Pan’s Labyrinth on their resume, winning was only a matter of time for sound designers Nicholas Becker, Jamie Bakst and Phillip Bladh. There is no doubt that Riz Ahmed elevates the material through his performance, but without sound and its absence, this film lacks an emotional sucker punch. By connecting audience and actor through audio, not only does Ruben’s journey become universally personal, but his epiphanies vicarious moments worth relishing.
The Sound of Metal is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video from April 12th.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Martin Carr
