The Sound Of Metal

 

    Last week, I was recommended a movie to refer to for my project and I finally had the opportunity to watch it, so I thought it’d be nice to write a short review and how I can relate it to my opening.

    The movie, The Sound Of Metal (2019), is about a man who is a drummer for a heavy metal band and how his increasing hearing loss is becoming detrimental to his work. 

    The opening starts off with- what seems to be- the main character at his drum set in a close-up shot. In the background we hear distorted feedback, singing, and just overwhelming and overbearing sounds. Along with this we have the strobing effect of red and white lights on the character. 

    Still in the beginning of the movie, the main character starts to hear ringing and muffled noises and he seems quiet and confused as to what is happening. Eventually it keeps getting worse and worse to the point that he can hear very little and goes to see an audiologist. He is given the option of a Cochlear Implant. A cochlear implant (C.I.) is a machine that is implanted on the cochlea, an inside part of the ear, through an invasive and costly surgery, that allows someone who is deaf or hard of hearing to hear. There is a separate piece that attaches like a magnet to the part of the head that the implant is. This controls the ability to hear. It is said that C.I. do not work for everyone, especially adults it may be more difficult. Although most of this process was not explained in the film, we can see Ruben’s quick response to get the surgery, which makes sense since he’s lived all his life so far as a hearing person.

    In some later scenes Ruben is introduced to people who are deaf and living in a Deaf community. After a lot of reluctance to cooperate with these people his girlfriend/bandmate forces him to stay for his own good. Although very ignorant, he eventually picks up ASL and learns to communicate with the rest of the people staying in the same house as well as learning with students. Despite learning to be happy, he is faced with thinking about his future, which causes him to sell all of his valuable belongings and get the surgery without thinking about any repercussions. He is kicked out of the home and forced to start again. As expected, the cochlear implant does not work for him and he is left disappointed and alone in his decision.

    At the very end of the film, he realizes that he would've been better off if he had taken the time to clear his mind while it was silent, then rush into stupid selfish decisions.

  

 This film will help me reflect onto my own characters and plot of my opening and gave me many more ideas to include in the process. Overall, it gave me a different outlook than I had before on how I can develop my main character and their journey, even though she is already deaf and not becoming deaf.