Sound of Noise

This movie is pure joy, musically and cinematically. Just the idea of having six drummers as terrorists, using everyday objects as instruments is so brilliant it doesn't even matter how good or bad the movie is. Fortunately this movie does great at both having an original idea, great characters and beautiful cinematography. The musical numbers is of course awesome, but also the plot line involving the policeman Warnebring is brilliant. You really feel for the character, even if he starts of as the bad guy(kind of), and you also root for him sometimes, even though he tries to stop the musicians. This is an amazing movie experience that I can recommend for everyone who has a heart(cheesy,but true), and can enjoy great cinema.

The first scene in the car is unforgettable and brilliant. The character intros are clichés but work well and bring out assured laughs. The premise is far-fetched but ingenious. Art and music terrorism is well explored and the points well taken, although the anarchist approach relies too much on the opposition to classical music in my taste as opposed to perhaps seeing it as an extension or evolution. Classical music is demonized and various forms of pop are frown upon, yet the final song which may be the best one is a popish bossa nova ballad.

The acts of terrorism are in 4 acts of a musical mastermind mayhem. The first one works the best in all aspects and especially musically while the 3 others like the rest of the movie starts to drag. Narratively, some elements are very weak and even if it is a wacky comedy makes for uninteresting moments and unreal connections. I was annoyed at many situations, reactions and characters which may be the case for some viewers.

However this film should still be seen for its inventive premise and many memorable scenes. Some scenes are beautiful and some are truly laugh out loud funny. Have a look at it and decide if you want to fast-forward some of it or claim it to be the next best thing like the Young Critics at Cannes and many others did.

And let there be silence.

My husband and I saw this tonight at the Seattle International Film Festival and we can't wait to be able to share it with our friends. The story is simple but endlessly creative: a group of musicians attempt to bring music to a city while a police officer attempts to get some much-needed peace and quiet.

We enjoyed the touches of whimsy and magic and were increasingly impressed by each successive musical experiment. The dialogue, the visual cues, and, yes, the music itself kept us riveted to the screen. The movie was received well by the audience, who rewarded it with hearty laughter in many places and a long round of applause at the end.

This film can be appreciated by everyone, from the highly musical (myself) to the tone-deaf (my husband)!

Give credit to Sound of Noise: despite dealing with such lofty themes such as the nature of music and its performance, it never becomes unnecessarily arty or academic. Instead, the movie has loads of quirky humour and an energetic plot, driven by a group of drummers-become-art-terrorists and their plan of turning everyday urban soundscapes into avant-garde percussion pieces. Bengt Nilsson does a nice performance as Amadeus Warnebring, a manic, tone-deaf and music-hating offspring of a family of classical pianists and conductors. The drummers are presented pretty much as caricatures of progressive musicians, but as such they're spot-on and funny. Even though the film-makers' sympathies are clearly on the side of the drummers, they're not above making gentle fun of avant-garde's excesses, and they're also surprisingly understanding of Warnebring's desire to live in a world of silence, with no music. The plot of the movie is slight, with some key elements left unexplained, but its fast-paced and constantly entertaining execution makes up for that. At the heart of Sound of Noise are the percussion pieces performed by the drummers, and they do not disappoint. The four performances seen in the film are awe-inspiring in their mise-en-scène, sound design and editing. For those scenes alone, Sound of Noise would be worth a view; as a whole, it's a quirky but easily-digested piece of pop art.

Amadeus Warnebring is a police detective. He is tone-deaf from birth despite coming from a family of extraordinary musicians. As such, he has a complicated and distasteful relationship with music. Sanna and Magnus lead a group of underground musicians looking for new sounds. They break into a hospital and play a famous patient. Amadeus is brought in to investigate the "terrorists".

This is much more fun on the page. The musical capers have a certain energy but they do get tired by the end. The deadpan humor is not the funniest but I see what they're trying for. It has great originality and the percussive fun of the Blue Man Group. Full marks for the idea if not for the execution.