Author: Li Xiaotian
2020 is a small year for movies. There are not many surprises left.
If anything, "The Land of No One" is undoubtedly the biggest surprise. However, after all, this film has two Oscar queens "Cohen Sister-in-law" Francis McDormand in the escort, not to be considered an unknown person. In the end, as an "unknown actor, no well-known choreographer, no well-known producer", "Three No Products" "Voice of Metal" is the biggest surprise.
The choreographer of The Sound of Metal is Darius Marder, his true debut. Previously, he wrote "Outside the Pine Forest" as a screenwriter, but the response was quite good, through a wonderful story, let Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper two big handsome men play up, extremely smooth, both dedicated superb acting skills.
None of the actors in "Sound of Metal" are big names, all of them are small supporting characters for many years, the male protagonist Ritz Ahmed is a Pakistani-British, and his most famous work before was in "Venom" as the big villain Dr. Reddeck. Other works are also mainly based on playing supporting roles. The heroine Olivia Cook has starred in "Ready Player One", but unfortunately it did not catch fire, and it is still lonely and unknown. Among the other actors, only Matthew Amalik, who has a small role, is still a bit familiar, and everyone else is a simple actor.
It is such a work that finally got 6 nominations on the Oscar nomination list, and ranked second with the hit films such as "The Land of No One" and "Minari". In the end, regardless of the award, this is already a remarkable achievement.
The valuable thing about "The Sound of Metal" is that it sets aside the hottest affirmative action movement at the moment, and only tells a story about "love and loss", returning to the basics, a very small point, on the film to talk about the movie, very pure, no grand narrative, never garlic.
Like City of Philharmonic, it is clean, concise, and about a simple and pure tragedy of love.
In recent years, with Obama in office, the liberal affirmative action movement has reached a climax and then been pushed to a higher peak under the forced counter-attack of Trump's conservative populism.
Reflected in the creation of film and television, films on the theme of equal rights have emerged in an endless stream, even to the point of aesthetic fatigue. 2020 is a small year for movies, but equal rights-themed films still firmly occupy the nomination list of major awards seasons.
Like "The Trial of the Seven Gentlemen of Chicago", "A Night in Miami", "Judas and the Black Mass" are more focused on the black affirmative action movement in the 1960s, and the stories in these films can even be connected to each other to form an affirmative universe. The Queen of The Blues was the subject of the repression of black social power in the 1920s. "The Bloodthirsty Five" is about the problems encountered in the life of black people after the Vietnam War, and it is still the theme of equal rights. These films are really tired after watching them all the way.
Then there's Minari, Borat 2, and Mauritanians, which tell the story of other racial minorities of american skin color struggling to integrate into white American society, (Minari is Korean, Borat 2 is Kazakh), and is still part of the affirmative action movement. "Mauritanian" has a shell of counter-terrorism, but the perspective is typical of the white left, with white supremacy looking down on the story of a person from Mauritania, although it is not equal rights but it is inseparable from equal rights.
And "The Land of No Dependence", "Fragments of Women", "Girl with a Bright Future", "The Sorrowful Song of the Countrymen", "American Subili Hallede" these big heroine films, just by looking at the name, you can guess more or less with feminist films.
After going through these works, you will find out how rare the pure story of "The Sound of Metal" is.
"Voice of Metal" does not deal with equal rights, although the male lead Riz Ahmed has typical Arab ancestry, his parents are Both South Asian Pakistanis, and later immigrated to the United Kingdom. The incision of this film is very small, it is a story that tells the story from loss to further loss, from loss of hearing to loss of love, which is heartbreaking.
Originally, I thought it was a music biographical film, so I didn't watch it much. Who wants the poster for this film to look like another "Burst Drummer"? I really have to be tired of being seen by a lot of biographical and equal rights films mentioned above.
"Sound of Metal" is actually a film similar to "Philharmonic City", and even more delicate, more immersive, and more heartbreaking in the portrayal of feelings.
The story is not complicated at all, even simple enough to become a film. But director Darryls Mader is really too powerful, in the small expression, the feelings are unconsciously conveyed.
In "The Sound of Metal", director Darryls Mader perfectly presents the protagonist's mental journey through subtle movements from time to time. In terms of the adjustment of the actors, it is also extremely amazing, so that Ritz Ahmed, who has always been a supporting role, has become one of the best actors with high demand for awards. Moreover, it also made Paul Lassi, who had not done much filming, a popular candidate for best supporting actor.
The story is about a heavy metal band made up of drummer Reuben, lead singer Lu and their friends. Ruben and Lu are boyfriend and girlfriend, and they plan to do a tour to make a record to express themselves.
Heavy metal music, in the music scene of various countries, belongs to the non-mainstream, and the United States, as a cultural power, is no exception. Ruben and Lu were not well-funded, and their tour had to live in a converted motorhome.
People who like rock and roll, especially heavy metal rock, are mostly avant-garde and rebellious. Ruben's "Please kill me" engraved on his chest shows his state of mind. There is also Lu, her scarred arm, which also vividly shows her rebellious life and thoughts.
In fact, Lu's family is still quite rich, and her father is a social upper-class person who is very cultured in art. But Lu's relationship with her father is terrible in order to pursue herself. I'd rather have no money and pursue myself.
Although there is no money, it is good to have love between Ruben and Lu, and it is good to be together all the time and do what you like.
But the onset of doom completely changed the couple.
Ruben was deaf.
How bad it must have been to lose your hearing as a drummer for heavy metal rock music.
There was a surgery to implant a cochlear implant to improve Ruben's complete deafness. However, the operation fee needs 26,000 no, they can't come up with it.
Ruben, who has lost his sense of hearing, is also in a bad mood and cannot live a normal life at all.
Reluctantly, Ruben and Luy went to a suburban club run by Paul Lassi, intending to let Ruben stay there to learn sign language and adjust to a life without hearing.
There was no way, Ruben had to stay. Lu went on a solo drive.
After some hard work, Ruben finally overcame his irritability, learned sign language, adapted to life here, and made the people here like him.
However, Reuben discovered through the computer that life outside the exposed had changed a lot. He decided to go back to her side.
Ruben sold his motorhome left outside the club for a cochlear implant.
The operation succeeded, but Paul Lassie stopped taking Ruben in and drove him out.
Paul Lassi's idea is that the people who stay here are a whole, and all people should trust each other and not have deep contact with the outside society. But Ruben's uneasiness about the status quo is unacceptable and is likely to infect other members with his emotions, so he must go.
Ruben, who had a cochlear implant, listened to the sounds of the world strangely. After all, cochlear implants are not native, and it doesn't change the condition of Ruben's ear lesions, just a replacement. The sound Reuben heard through the cochlear implant was similar to the sound coming from the radio, with metallic noise, which was not natural and could only be reluctantly accepted
Ruben took the cochlear implant to look for Dew.
After leaving Ruben, Lu did not continue to find her own musical path, after all, life without dependence and mutual support was too difficult. She was a girl and had no choice but to return to her father.
Ruben finds Lu's home, where her father (Matthew Amalik) receives him and invites him to a dinner party that night. It happened to be my father's birthday.
Lou rushed back in time. From the pictographic point of view, she subtracted her long hair, faded the avant-garde appearance, and changed a lot.
Her father invited Lu to sing a song composed by her deceased mother, and Lui sang it in French.
All the details show that Lu has returned from a rebellious girl to a well-behaved girl.
She retracted her outfit and sang gentle songs in the French she had learned, and everything became gentle and ladylike. The relationship with his father has also changed completely. What was once betrayal and disapproval turned into harmony.
Ruben and Lu once again hugged each other, and when Ruben once again mentioned the two plans, continued to tour, and continued to make records, Lu unconsciously touched the scar on his arm.
Ruben instantly understood that Lu couldn't go back, and neither could they go back between them.
Although everything Ruben did was to return, it was all to return to Lu's side, for love.
However, when he did all his best, overcame all the difficulties, and returned to the side of love, he found that love had changed.
In fact, Ruben is also trying to change himself. He shaved off one of his yellow hairs, revealing his originally black color.
But so what? The person he loved was no longer the same person he had been.
Early in the morning, Ruben quietly sat up from Lu's side, packed his bags, walked out of Lou's house, walked down the street, and then sat in a chair on the side of the street, watching the children playing, and heard the church bells ringing. He took off the headset and quieted the noisy world once again. Just sit and sit and sit and sit and
Subtitles, pulled out this time.
But the heart of watching the movie cannot be calm.
Usually, when you see the subtitles, you turn off the computer and stop reading them. This time, he sat quietly, listening to the ending music, and sat quietly. Just like himself at this time, he became the Reuben who no longer saw him, as if he was still sitting there, unmoving, so quiet.
Very small, very delicate film.
There is no small words, no ups and downs, no deliberate sensationalism, not even a story, that is, relying on the control of details, relying on subtle expressions, relying on superb acting skills, the whole film shows a different color, and finally makes this film the most special one in the award ceremony.
Ritz Ahmed, in particular, is so well acted. He is not acting, and completely incarnated into a role, and even his big eyes, which seem to be somewhat abrupt, have become extremely sophisticated because of the character's transmission, and between flickers, the rich inner world of the character is unconsciously conveyed.
To say that the shortcomings of the film, that is, before deafness, deafness, after surgery between the three paragraphs appear to be somewhat separated, and in the club that section is a bit long on the theme of the entire film, too much like a documentary, showing the entire state of the male protagonist, in fact, there is not much need.
In terms of flattery, it is not like "City of Philharmonic", which takes Hollywood Vanity Fair as the stage, and interprets the division and interlacing between the two people in the struggle very beautifully, and the song and dance also add a lot to the film. "Sound of Metal" is the story of a couple on the fringes of society, although it also involves music, but heavy metal rock itself is non-mainstream, and the dream of two people struggling for music is also completely defeated because of the male protagonist's deafness.
The heroine's return to traditional society and living a normal life is also beyond reproach. It's not that she's negative, it's not that she's empathizing and not falling in love, it's not that she doesn't love him anymore. Just life, so that she is no longer the original her.
He was still him, but what was the use?
Alone and penniless, Ruben ended up sitting on the street, where did he go?
No answer is given in the film.
Originally, the female protagonist Lu lived a new life, the male protagonist Ruben was also, he also got a new life in the club, but he was uneasy about this, still wanted to pursue, but the reality is stronger than people.
One change, everything changes, no one can do anything, this is the life of Dog Day.
"Sound of Metal" is a delicate film sketch that requires immersion in watching the film and paying attention to those inadvertent details in order to appreciate the taste.
As for the awards season, so far, Chadwick Bosman in "Queen of the Blues" has led the way and has gained a number of movie emperors, and the King of Wakanda "Black Panther" lying in the grave can be described as a soft hand in winning the award.
But in fact, Chadwick Bosman's award is somewhat sympathetic. Bosman's performance in "Diva of the Blues" is quite good, but it does not show a crushing advantage. Unlike other "dog daddy" Gary Oldman and "brother" Cassie Affleck, it has an unparalleled advantage over other players. At the very least, compared to Ritz Ahmed, Bosman shows no advantage at all, or even worse.
But "Queen of The Blues" is a big production, more advantages, "The Sound of Metal" is the dark horse, is the impactor. Finally, at the Oscars, the probability is also that Bosman will be honored. This is a little unfair to Ritz Ahmed, but he has completely proved himself through this film, and the road will be wider in the future.
(Image from the Internet, copyright belongs to the original author)