Riz Ahmed gives a rock solid performance in ‘Sound’
The actor plays a drummer whose sudden hearing loss changes his life.
Thanks to a knockout performance from Riz Ahmed and awesome use of sound design, the remarkable drama “Sound of Metal” gives audiences a chance to understand hearing loss and the crucial support of a tight-knit deaf community through the eyes and ears of a young man whose entire life changes overnight.
Director/co-writer Darius Marder ushers the same experience onscreen for deaf and hearing audiences: “Sound of Metal” ( ★★★g; rated R; in select theaters, streaming Dec. 4 on Amazon Prime) features open captioning throughout the film, which becomes necessary as the heavy-metal drummer at the center of the story – and, by proxy, the viewer – is forced to confront suddenly being deaf.
Ruben (Ahmed) tours the country with his girlfriend/manager/Black Gammon bandmate Lou (Olivia Cooke) playing loud, feedback-shrieking shows. The relentless cacophony takes an unforeseen toll, as Ruben first is bothered by a ringing in his ears and soon can only hear muffled sounds.
A heroin addict who has been sober for four years, Ruben begins to feel old urges and lashes out violently, leading a worried Lou to call his old sponsor and get Ruben into a halfway house for deaf addicts. Run by a caring soul named Joe (Paul Raci), Ruben is reluctant at first to give in to this new mentor and is given one job: “Learn how to be deaf.”
Ruben begins to turn things around by working with kids and learning sign language. Through Marder’s direction and Ahmed’s quiet rage, viewers feel the internal loneliness when Ruben can’t converse with Lou and the alienation of silence as the new deaf community around him enjoys a meal but Ruben doesn’t know what they’re saying – until he begins to put in the work.
The struggles don’t stop for Ruben, as he wrestles with the loss of his livelihood. “Everybody here shares the belief that being deaf is not a handicap. Not something to fix,” Joe tells Ruben in one of the film’s most heartfelt scenes. It’s a story about a lost soul needing to find his way again and emphasizes the endurance of the human spirit, as Ruben has no choice but to move on with his life.
Throughout it all, Ahmed is superb at communicating the range of Ruben’s emotions, from the desperation and confusion of his situation to the happiness and optimism he expresses when drumming on a metal playground slide with a deaf youngster. His performance seems so real at times that the film almost feels like a documentary rather than fiction.
Ahmed is just one aspect of what makes “Sound of Metal” work.
Marder immerses a hearing viewer into a deaf person’s world, creating an innovative sense of empathy. “Feedback continues droning” appears on the screen when Lou holds a screeching guitar note and “insects trilling loudly” marks the quiet nature outside Joe’s group home. Deaf audiences know these sorts of captions well, but Marder makes them essential.
The film is profound, frightening, uplifting and, yes, breathtaking at times, and you’re not likely to take your hearing for granted anytime soon afterward. In that way, “Sound of Metal” truly rocks.