Sound of Metal

"When this crappy, mundane world suddenly becomes radiant and magnificent...all the fear is gone."

This film is an achievement on pretty much all levels. A simple yet complex story, Sound of Metal brings a lot to the table. Riz Ahmed plays Ruben, a drummer whose hearing is rapidly deteriorating. He does an amazing job. Similar to Sally Hawkins in The Shape of Water, some of the acting is silent and mainly in ASL. When not using ASL, he ranges from quiet moments to high, extreme levels of acting. Beforehand, I wasn't quiet sure how he would do. The buzz around his performance kept building, even though some hadn't even seen the film. I don't think they could've found a better actor in the scenario. This is a career defining performance and I can't wait to see what happens with it come awards season. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Olivia Cooke and Paul Raci. Raci has the second most screentime-at least I think-and he has some really impactful scenes. Mainly, his dialogue is strong. Like Ahmed, he uses both English and ASL but primarily ASL. I wanted a little more with his character because he is there as guidance for Ruben. I could compare him to Sam Elliott in A Star is Born. Raci is the voice of judgment and has some meaty scenes. The difference is we don't delve quite as much into his character, at least as much as I wanted to. And Cooke is also a voice of judgement, but as the girlfriend. Not too much for character development or defining scenes, but the genuine performance makes up for it. I'm glad the film takes a different approach and not the typical girlfriend we might see in this type of film. She's there to help and not there to cause any drama. The casting from the lead to the small roles are all great.

This is a screenplay heavy film. Not in the sense of dialogue, but rather the description and what is happening. I haven't seen the screenplay or anything like that, but you can just tell. Darius Marder directed this extremely well. He co-wrote with Abraham Marder and the story is by Derek Cianfrance, so he has a great sense of what he wants to convey. Through tone, sound, and what is shown on screen, he hit everything right. The only thing I would like to fix with the writing and directing is some of the pacing. As I mentioned before, the film is focused on the quiet, tender moments. Sometimes this means there's not much happening. It's clever to have this but the film can feel slow at times. The runtime is 130 minutes and about 10 could've been cut down. I don't know where it could have used the most cuts but a little bit could've been helpful.

Besides the acting, writing, and directing, the sound design is one of the shining achievements. The whole film is beaded around sound. But the way they edited and mixed everything actually puts you in Ruben's headspace. You are becoming hearing with him. Then there's moments where we hear what is actually happening as a non deaf/hearing-impaired individual. Those moments of realization aid in the experience. Emotion is built with that choice. Now there's a decision made by Ruben and it's part of what we can hear with him. I'm so glad we could be part of that. The only time something like that has been done was in the TV series Undone. The sound design there is so spectacular that it could win a majority of the sound awards. If there's one thing that you can take from this film, it's that sound is a virtue.

The Sound of Metal is definitely one of the top films this year and it has everything to do with the steak kar performances of the lead actor Riz Ahmed. With blond hair it's hard to even place him as a Pakistani playing the role. Ahmed is an intense actor and takes us into the world of a tormented drummer trying to come to terms with losing his hearing not long after overcoming addiction. This new battle takes him into an unfamiliar world where the sound design helps the audience feel what the protagonist must feel. This film selves into experimentation with the auditory experience of cinema. An absolute must-watch.

I was incredibly fortunate to have seen Sound of Metal at the Toronto International Film Festival including a Q&A after with the director and cast. Whereas a lot of films may take the storyline into melodramatic territory, Sound of Metal explores not only the reality of those who are deaf which is so poorly represented in film and television but also the destructive nature and high cost of denial and self-deception in the face of hard truths.

By focusing on someone whose entire existence revolves around a world of sound losing that which defines his life, it gives the viewer pause to consider what life can be like when we learn to accept and let go. There is so much more to life than the small corners of existence we live in and this film paints that reality with both tremendous empathy and a bluntness that lesser writers and directors would avoid.

In addition, one really has to commend the direction and design of this film's audio. It is clear that a great deal of thought went into how to use sound in this film. From the in-your-face pounding of metal music at the start through the muffled reality as the protagonist loses his hearing to the sense of peace in the moments of silence, it is clear that a great deal of painstaking detail was crafted in conveying this film's reality.

Sound of Metal is one of those films which will keep you thinking for days after about so many aspects of life such as addiction and how some relationships may simply serve a purpose in the short term for our life but ultimately must be let go. How it illuminates aspects of the deaf community that few get a chance to see is important. But there is so much more to this film that to pigeonhole it as merely being about deaf people does a grand disservice to the many fantastic qualities in every aspect of its creation. I highly recommend taking the time to watch this film.

Masterpiece! I was expecting a movie like Whiplash but this one is far better. Whiplash is a story of "If you work hard, you succeed." This one is "If you work hard, you succeed, then one day you can lose everything in a second, and if you work harder, you can realize that "everything" is actually nothing." A tribute to stillness...

A movie so well made, it makes you fascinated and at the same time frightened by experiencing deafness. The sound mixing is top notch, as well as cinematography and the direction.

This is the high time that Riz Ahmed got a limelight and he really shines in here. Through his superb acting, we experience his despair, joy and conflicted feelings. Supporting cast brilliantly supplements him.

This movie was one of kind experience and totally recommended to watch with best headset you got if possible.