Sound of Metal (2019)

(On Cable TV, May 2021) While the “musician going deaf” plot device isn’t original to Sound of Metal (It’s All Gone Pete Tong did it in a semi-comic fashion back in 2004), no other film has quite captured the experience in as much eloquent detail. Our protagonist (a great performance by Riz Ahmed) is a drummer in a heavy metal duo, living a hardscrabble life in-between constant touring and meager earnings. Alas, he hasn’t been taking care of his hearing and as Sound of Metal begins, the sonic soundscape of the film is enough to tell us something is very wrong: tinnitus is the least of his worries, as he’s on an irreversible slide to deafness — he can only prolong what remains of his hearing, not reverse the inevitable. The character-driven plotting doesn’t show him taking the news calmly, or rationally — by the middle of the film, his self-destructive behaviour means that he’s without hearing, without a girlfriend, making enemies in his new community and unable to pay for the implants that would bring back some hearing. Much of Sound of Metal is a journey through grief, complications, sudden disability and addictive behaviour, and at very last half-acceptance of new circumstances. This is bolstered by aggressive sound editing trying to give most viewers the experience of being in the protagonist’s situation, all the way to an ending that acknowledges that there’s no going back. It’s not necessarily an easy film to watch: the protagonist’s personality is not one for easy solutions and calm acceptance. Writer/director Darius Marder’s approach and cinematography are both gritty and impressionistic, removing the usual distancing mechanisms that Hollywood often uses to talk about disabilities. Sound of Metal all wraps up into an impressive audiovisual impact, amply deserving of its Best Picture Academy Award nomination. You may not want to watch it more than once, though.