Following his fantastic starring role in Mogul Mowgli (2020), Riz Ahmed gives a career-defining performance as Ruben Stone, another musician devastated by a failing body in Sound of Metal, this time playing a heavy metal drummer whose sudden loss of hearing leaves himself afloat in a world for which he has to find new ways to navigate and understand.
Whereas the aforementioned British film saw Ahmed’s rapper Zed flit between reality and fantasy in a 1.33:1 ratio exploration of cultural identity, Sound of Metal is a comparatively minimalist character-study which instead forefronts the issue of mental health and addiction. The fact that Ahmed stars in two films which share key narrative concepts and plot beats does perhaps prompt a certain sense of deja vu, but it would be unfair to dismiss this as the other, perhaps lesser, half of a duology of thematically linked films.
Sound of Metal offers a very human and relatable drama, utilising the sonic potential of cinema in order to convey the claustrophobic (but at times also peaceful) silence that accompanies Ruben’s condition.
Putting his band Blackgammon, in which he plays drums alongside his romantic partner and frontwoman-guitarist Lou (Olivia Cooke), and its touring schedule on hold, Ruben reluctantly enters into a somewhat unconventional church-sponsored deaf support programme, which demands the surrender of his phone, car keys, and any contact with the outside world. Casting deaf actors and non-actors alike, the film presents a sensitive but unsentimentalised portrayal of the deaf community through Ruben’s eyes: a community predicated upon common understanding and acceptance which quickly rallies to guide and support Ruben through his newfound circumstances.
The film’s central thesis is that deafness is not a handicap, a mantra espoused by Paul Raci’s scene-stealing Joe, a Vietnam veteran and recovering alcoholic who welcomes Ruben into the programme, acting as both counsellor and father-figure as he guides individuals through their re-initiation into a mostly silent world. As Joe remarks in one of the film’s most poignant scenes, Ruben should stop thinking of his condition as something to be ‘fixed’, asking him to consider what that attitude suggests to the other residents who perhaps don’t have the ability, resources or desire to attain the hearing implants which the ex-drummer dreams of acquiring.
As the film unfolds, the piece’s central drama comes into focus, documenting the uphill struggle Ruben undertakes to learn ASL, adapt to a new community and a new way of life, and give back to those who picked him up, all whilst holding onto the perhaps naïve hope that he can once again play drums and record music professionally. Prompted by this unexpected pathway, however, is Ruben’s own personal re-evaluation of what he wants from his life and his relationship with the equally troubled Lou, which sees him confront an understated but intensely cathartic revelation in the film’s final act. Although a certain tonal shift and geographical relocation in the final 20 minutes feels somewhat jarring when compared with the film’s first two acts, introducing French actor Mathieu Amalric into the mix, Sound of Metal finishes on an almost meditative high which highlights exactly why Ahmed was nominated for, and should perhaps win, the Oscar for Best Actor.
Notes from the Multiplex 