By Eva Sanchez
Welcome to the first part of my movie review series of the Oscar best picture nominees. I am not a film major but do consider myself a pop culture fanatic, therefore a little bit of a movie geek. This series will go through all of the best picture nominees and will feature a small spoiler-free summary and review of each movie.
The movie theater experience is lacking this Oscars season, but one positive aspect is that you can watch most of these movies on streaming services. Get comfortable on your living room couch, pop your popcorn and settle in.
If the movie you just watched doesn’t immediately make you want to look up reviews, explanations or fan theories, then I can recommend you a better one: “Sound of Metal.”
If you feel like you haven’t cried in a while and would really like to let a good one loose, “Sound of Metal” is a perfect watch for you. This Oscar nominated film was expected to get a spot on the coveted list and, after watching, I have to agree with the academy’s decision. “Sound of Metal” is a refreshingly emotional story, reminding its viewers that life is ever-changing, and so are we.
“Sound of Metal” follows a heavy metal drummer, Ruben, who loses his hearing and is forced to learn how to adapt to his new life of silence that has been thrust on him so abruptly.
Director Darius Marder made the audience feel exactly what Ruben was going through as he lost his hearing with manipulation of sound. The audio would frequently match Ruben’s and as a result, the audience could empathize with him and understand what the loss of hearing was truly like. The sound ranges from barely audible to staticky and overwhelming.
Ruben does not have many strong relationships with people who can help him. In fact, I can’t recall his family ever being mentioned. The one exception to Ruben’s lack of relationships is Lou, his girlfriend of four years and the singer in their two person band. Not only do they live together in the van but they also use it to travel to shows together. The van is almost symbolic of their relationship.
It is clear from the very first scenes of the movie that this relationship is built on real love. Ruben and Lou are everything to one another, and we learn that they are pretty much all the other has.
When Ruben learns of his 80% to 90% loss of hearing, he becomes almost silent. But it is Lou we hear expressing the heartbreak we know Ruben is feeling. Worry sets in as Lou realizes that because of this traumatic experience, Ruben, who is four years clean of heroin, might relapse.
Addiction is a common theme in this movie – whether it is drug addiction, addiction to a person, or even addiction to the thing that keeps you sober which, for Ruben, was Lou and drumming.
Lou sends Ruben to a rehab facility for deaf addicts, where Ruben has to learn to be deaf and to accept his situation. He finally develops genuine connections with people there and, as Ruben opens up, his mutual friendships grow as well. But the addiction to music and getting back to Lou is too strong. Although it motivates him, it blocks him from accepting that deafness is not something bad that has to be fixed. Due to this mindset, Ruben is convinced that if he gets surgery and Cochlear Implants, his hearing will return exactly how it was before he lost it.
Change is inevitable, and this movie brings that point home. People change and it is something that needs to be accepted at face value – you can’t expect people to be the same forever. Relationships with people can get stronger or fade, but the relationship you have with yourself is forever.
The acting in this movie makes it the masterpiece it is. Ruben is played by Riz Ahmed, who breaks our heart on-screen and breaks barriers off-screen. Ahmed is the first Muslim to ever be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. We spend the majority of our time with Ahmed, who learned how to drum and do American Sign Language for this role. The audience’s connection with his character is so strong by the end of the film that it leaves you wanting more.
“Sound of Metal” will subtly break your heart and change your perception of love. This movie understands the true sadness of falling out of love and coming to terms with yourself becoming a different person. I have to say, this is my favorite movie out of all of the nominees. Not just because it’s the only one I’ve seen so far, but because it is one that presents your deepest fears about love in such an elusive way that reminds us that it will all be okay.
Terp reactions:
“I really loved “Sound of Metal“ because of how effortlessly but accurately they portrayed the main characters’ relationship. It was super moving and I would definitely recommend it,” said junior environmental science and technology major Julia Dalton.
“I loved the movie. I thought the whole film was very human. As someone with severe hearing loss it was a powerful experience,” said senior film major Brianna Chazin.
“I really had not heard of Darius Marder until this movie, and I think it’s his first feature length film. The acting was amazing in this movie. I really loved how the movie paced itself in a way that it’s steady and slow throughout the film but also intense and heartbreaking. The character development was also great. The greatest part was probably the contrast of his artificial sounds vs. real sounds in the film. It showed very directly his unavoidable situation and depressing separation that other people could not comprehend,” said junior computer science major Evan Ni.
“I thought Riz Ahmed’s performance was the best I’ve seen in a long time. It was heartbreaking without being overly sentimental. The writing and sound design was really effective in making the audience share in the discomfort of the story,” said undeclared sophomore Anna Mullen.
“I think Sound of Metal did a really good job simulating hearing loss, as so i’ve heard from people who use cochlear implants and/or tinnitus. But my favorite aspect of the movie was the emotional rollercoaster that the main character experiences in being a hearing individual having to find his way in between the hearing world and the deaf world. It was also a realistic depiction about how people with cochlear implants can feel stuck in between two worlds and can never fully be in the Deaf world.
What I didn’t like was how easily they decided to go through with his surgery since he had unrealistic expectations for what his hearing would look like and usually there is a more extensive communicative approach to making his decision. His decision seemed very instinctive and impulsive and I wish they took more time to show what procedures usually take place,” said senior hearing and speech major Abby Rosler.
Featured photo: movie poster photo courtesy of Amazon Prime Video. Graphics added and edited by Eva Sanchez.