🍿#9: Sound of Metal

The best film I've seen this year and why I don't think Riz Ahmed will win an Oscar.

Apr 22, 2021

“In the words of AC/DC: We roll tonight, to the guitar bite… and for those about to rock, I salute you.”
~ School of Rock, 2003

Drum roll, please 🥁

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for - or at least I have… Sound of Metal is finally available to watch in the UK!

This is a film that has been on my watch list since the first issue of Salty Popcorn. Its release date has been constantly pushed back in tandem with the end of lockdown - I don’t even know which I’ve been more excited for!

Now, I would have much preferred to watch this in the cinema but I couldn’t stand the idea of not seeing it before the Oscars on Monday, for which it’s been nominated six awards, including:

Best Motion Picture of the Year
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Riz Ahmed)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Paul Raci)
Best Sound
Best Original Screenplay
Best Achievement in Film Editing

Ahmed has some stiff competition for Best Actor, including Gary Oldman (for Mank), Anthony Hopkins (for The Father), Steven Yeun (for Minari) and Chadwick Boseman (for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).

In all honesty, I don’t think Ahmed will win it. Not because he doesn’t deserve it but because Boseman is the more obvious choice. His performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was powerful, passionate and intense whereas Ahmed’s was much more low-key.

What’s more, the Academy is desperately trying to prove how woke it is after years of being called out for its lack of diversity. Maybe I’m being cynical, but do you think Promising Young Woman would have been nominated for five Oscars if Hollywood wasn’t trying to wash its hands of Harvey Weinstein?

…It’s all politics, man.

Do you know someone who’d like a taste of Salty Popcorn? Feel free to send it on.

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Upcoming Releases

Monster

UK: 7 May // USA: 7 May

Based on the award-winning novel by Walter Dean Myers, Monster follows the story of an aspiring filmmaker (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) caught up in a fatal robbery for which he is charged with murder.

Despite its 2018 premiere at Sundance, the distribution rights for Monster have changed hands a couple of times and are now owned by Netflix, hence the delay.

Those Who Wish Me Dead

UK: 17 May // USA: 14 May

Angelina Jolie stars as survival expert, Hannah, who tries to protect a young boy from two assassins (Nicholas Hoult and Aidan Gillen) as a wildfire tears its way through the forest they’re all trapped in.

Fact of the week

This week’s fact is a bit long-winded, but it’s worth it…

Toy Story 2 was almost completely lost when one of the animators accidentally wiped all of the files from the Pixar computers.

Apparently nobody panicked because there was a backup system in place for such an event, but at the time it wasn’t working and there weren’t any files to restore. The whole film had been deleted.

Fortunately, the supervising technical director, Galyn Susman, had been working from home and she had a backup system installed that was updated on a weekly basis. These were the only surviving files left of Toy Story 2 and although some were lost forever, there were enough to finish making the film. Talk about a close call!

Review: Sound of Metal

Star rating:

5 (out of 5)

Worth a watch?

Yes

Where to watch:

USA: Amazon Prime (free with Prime)

UK: Amazon Prime (free with Prime)

Blurb:

Sound of Metal follows the journey of Ruben (Riz Ahmed), an addict and heavy metal drummer whose entire way of life is dramatically altered following the loss of his hearing.

The review (NO spoilers):

In recent times, few films have caught my attention like Sound of Metal. I’ve been eagerly awaiting its release since January and although such anticipation can lead to disappointment, I’m happy to say this wasn’t the case.

In fact, this is the first film I’ve rated five out of five. Why? Because I can’t fault it. The story is original, the use of sound is innovative and immersive and Riz Ahmed is nothing less than sublime.

Throughout the film, Ahmed’s performance is as understated as it is powerful. He is 100% in tune with the character he’s portraying and the subtlety of his acting makes the film feel all the more real.

The only element that rivals Ahmed is the film’s use of sound, which allows the audience to hear the world as Ruben does. Although director Darius Marder uses silence to his advantage, there’s a lot more to his technique than simply muting all audio. It’s hard to explain without giving anything away, so you’ll just have to trust me.

This film needs (and deserves) our full attention for it to really take hold. I may well watch it again when the cinemas open on 17 May, but if you plan on watching this at home then I’d suggest eliminating as many distractions as possible. I’m sure you can go without your phone for a couple of hours 😉

Scroll down for what’s coming in the next issue and the Critic’s Cut.

If you liked Sound of Metal…

Whiplash

2014 | UK: NowTV // US: STARZ

*Also available in the UK and US on Amazon Prime for £3.49 and $2.99 respectively.*

A young and ambitious drummer, Andrew (Miles Teller), finds himself being ‘mentored’ by Terence Fletcher (J K Simmons), whose unconventional methods push him to the brink.

This is a shallow recommendation as Sound of Metal isn’t about drumming. However, Whiplash is an incredible film that won three of the four Oscars it was nominated for.

The Place Beyond the Pines

2012 | UK: Amazon Prime // US: Peacock

The Place Beyond the Pines isn’t about drumming, music or deaf people. But the pace and overall mood of the film is very similar to Sound of Metal - probably because it was co-written by Darius Marder (writer and director of SoM).

In the next issue:

Nomadland

UK: 17 May // USA: 19 February | Watch the Trailer

The Critic’s Cut 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨:

There’s a part of me that would have liked more subtitles for the ASL (American Sign Language), however, a bigger part of me respects not understanding the communication between the deaf characters.

Getting a glimpse of how it feels to be left out of a conversation served as a reminder of my own entitlement in expecting—or at least wanting—to understand everything that’s being said. This feeling goes hand in hand with one of the film’s core messages, which is that deafness shouldn’t be seen as something that needs to be fixed. Instead, we as a society should do more to accommodate people with impaired hearing.

Despite this, as the film goes on you may have noticed that we’re given more subtitles as Ruben’s competency in ASL improves, which is another clever way of deepening our connection with the protagonist.

I really do hope that Ahmed gets the Oscar for this, if he does then be sure to clap… and clap loud.