12/8/20 - Sound of Metal - 7+/10
Riz Ahmed finally gets a platform to kill it, and kill it he does. The aggression, the tenderness, the vulnerability, the realization and the occasional joie de vivre seep through the mask of hardcore & phony masculine serenity. It is a delicately stirring portrait of a man losing what he believes makes him HIM and the slow ambling down a new path of existence & hopeful peace. Ahmed encapsulates it all brilliantly and strikingly.
Visceral and rending in its minimalistic thrust. A tale of loss and the semblance of self-actualization in the smoldering rubble of what he once knew as his reality.
Fairly frill-less, with a naturalistic camera and med-near focus, but in the soundscape it excels. We are closed into the ever quieting room of Ruben as at the most vital times to identify with our protagonist’s silencing plight, the sound and lack thereof, takes the spotlight. It is deftly done, cleverly highlighted and deeply meaningful.
A moving and engrossing character piece which Ahmed delivers the best performance of his young career.
