MUSICAL DRAMA IS HARD TO BEAT
RIZ AHMED PUTS IN A HARD-HITTING PERFORMANCE AS A DRUMMER SUFFERING WITH HEARING DAMAGE
NOMINATED for six Academy Awards including Best Picture, Sound of Metal employs thrillingly immersive sound design to convey the inner turmoil of a musician faced with a diagnosis of acute hearing loss.
London-born actor Riz Ahmed, Oscar-nominated alongside costar Paul Raci, invigorates director Darius Marder’s drama, co-written by his brother Abraham.
Heavily tattooed drummer Ruben (Ahmed) and singerguitarist girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke) are touring America in an old Airstream trailer as the punkmetal band Blackgammon when Ruben experiences ringing in his ears and then muffled quietness.
A doctor (Tom Kemp) conducts urgent tests, which reveal Ruben is registering less than 30% of spoken words.
“Your first priority is to preserve the hearing you have,” explains the medic, who advises Ruben to eliminate exposure to loud noises, effectively ending his music career.
Health insurance doesn’t cover expensive cochlear implants and Ruben teeters on the brink of a downward spiral into drug abuse after four years of hard-fought sobriety. His behaviour also risks triggering Lou, who self-harms.
Ruben enrols in a residential programme for deaf recovering addicts run by Vietnam War veteran Joe (Raci), who expects the new arrival to learn American Sign Language and acknowledge that being deaf is not a handicap.
“Those moments of stillness... that’s the kingdom of God. That place will never abandon you,” tenderly preaches Joe.
Relying increasingly on facial expressions and gestures, Ahmed chisels away at his character’s bullish bravado and denial to give us a palpable sense of the snarling rage, suffocating fear and frustration of a recovering addict, who resists letting go of his drumsticks and everything they symbolise.
The sadness when he finally acknowledges all he must sacrifice to protect himself and the person he loves is crushing.
Sound of Metal beautifully illuminates Ruben’s anguished odyssey from denial to acceptance in the embrace of the deaf community. Sentimental riffs composed around a schoolteacher (Lauren Ridloff) and her class of cherubic moppets creep into the second half but Ahmed and co-star Raci don’t strike a single false note.
■ Amazon Prime Video from April 12 and in cinemas from May 17