Riz Ahmed’s Sound of Metal is a masterclass in storytelling

At the end of the day all that matters is that did a book, a television show or a film tell a good story or not; and the Sound of Metal has been able to successfully tell a great story. Watching it on the big screen would have been such an experience.

It’s a story that is for the most part told through imagery and sound. Despite minimum dialogues, the communication with the audience is on point. You are hooked from scene one.

The plot revolves around Ruben (played by Riz Ahmed), a small time punk metal drummer with a history for drug addiction, who suddenly and rapidly starts to lose his hearing. His bandmate and girlfriend Lou (played by Olivia Cooke), ends up convincing him to visit a rural community for deaf people who are also struggling with various forms of addictions as well. This community is run by Joe (played by Paul Raci), a kind but strict recovering alcoholic who himself lost his hearing in a bomb explosion during Vietnam.

Joe plays a subtle but key role in Ruben’s understanding of how to embrace his new life, even though you don’t see him coming to that realization instantly or getting to admit it Joe in person. There are times when the audience can see Ruben’s transformation as a person while he himself continues to stubbornly ignore it.

During the entire film Riz continues to maintain his screen presences and takes his audience through all the emotions his character goes through while facing this existential crisis; his shock, despair, small moments of respite.

You don’t have to wait a lot for the Ruben’s hearing loss to surface, it comes on quite early on and suddenly. Sound becomes muffled and then drops from his surroundings. You see his confusion turning into terror and instantly start empathizing with his situation. As someone who personally experiences blocked ears annually for a couple of weeks that temporarily reduce my hearing, I found myself automatically pulling on my ears when Ruben is initially experiencing the loss of this biological ability.

Most of the film maps Ruben’s journey from a person who needs a regimented routine and attachment to be sure of his solid ground to someone who transitions into understanding and appreciating his life and self-love at some level. On paper this synopsis of the film might not come across as much of a story, but Sound of Metal as mentioned earlier is not a dialogue rich content. Its story telling focuses on the imagery combined with the sound effect and all the actors have done a great job, making it an emotional visual treat.

Sound of Metal is the debut project of Darius Marder as a writer and director on the project and his gets all the points for keeping the emotion and tension quite crisp through the changing sonic and image textures. There are no lags in this film, no unnecessary scenes.

There a many undertones to this film in addition to representing the deaf community. Through the protagonist’s struggle everyone can reflect on their own attachments that are held dear because they seem to define our existence and without those we believe we won’t survive. Life has a bigger canvas than these attachments and we call can learn to appreciate the various phases and let go when need be.

Originally published at https://pk.mashable.com on December 23, 2020.