CODA

The title CODA is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults. The film follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) as she navigates her senior year of high school. She wakes up before dawn to help her dad and brother on their fishing boat, being the only one that can hear the radio. She often falls asleep in class and she joins the school choir, possibly because a certain boy signs up for it too. After stumbling to find her confidence in choir, her teacher, Mr. V (Eugenio Derbez) discovers that Ruby has a natural talent for singing and offers to coach her in hopes of getting into Berklee school of music. Ruby struggles to juggle her music rehearsals with her family needing her. 

I love the mother-daughter relationship shown in this film. Ruby’s mother, Jackie (Marlee Matlin) asks “If I been blind would you want to paint?” She wonders if this love of music is just a form of teenage rebellion. Later she also confesses that she hoped Ruby would be deaf as well, so that they could be closer. This is a very heartfelt and sweet conversation where she tells her daughter that she was afraid being deaf would make her a bad mom. 

Ruby is often put in awkward, embarrassing and hilarious situations being the only hearing person in her family. Her father, Frank (Troy Kotsur), blasts music when he picks her up from school, saying “I love rap music, my whole ass is vibrating.” In an early scene we see Ruby interpreting her father’s sign language to a doctor. Her father vigorously signs the symptoms of his jock itch, Ruby tones it down for the doctor, clearly embarrassed. Later in the film, she and the boy are practicing their duet, only to be interrupted by the sound of Ruby’s parents having sex, clearly unaware of how loud they are. 

While this film has very funny moments, the reality about the family’s situation is often tender. Ruby confesses that children used to make fun of how she talked when she was younger, a wound that stifles her confidence in choir, but I love the way Mr. V uses this information to help Ruby. At times the family seems to use Ruby as a crutch, relying on her too much. They expect her to be the interpreter for an interview with the local news, causing her to miss rehearsal and wearing Mr. V’s patience thin. And the one time Ruby isn’t on the fishing boat is when her father and brother needed a hearing person the most. 

At it’s heart, CODA is about a family navigating two worlds at once. Ruby loves music and would be a fool not to try to get into Berkely. But she has never done anything without her family and fears leaving them could be detrimental. The moment during the choir performance where we see everything from Frank’s perspective, no sound, but seeing how everyone around him is moved by his daughter’s singing is eye opening and beautiful. He realizes just how special his daughter’s musical ability is and that moment in the truck where he feels Ruby singing moved me to tears. Later, Ruby signing as she sings was absolutely beautiful.

CODA is nominated for only three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and adapted screenplay. Troy Kotsur is nominated for supporting actor in his wonderful role as Ruby’s father. I would love to see him win, I’m sure he would sign a wonderful acceptance speech. I’m personally saddened that Sian Heder was not nominated for director. I think the tone and her vision for this wonderful film should be acknowledged. 

I love that films have become so much more inclusive, telling stories of women, people of color, the disabled and other minorities. Between last year’s Sound of Metal and now CODA I hope to see more great movies about the deaf community, it will only help the world to be inclusive and understanding. I sometimes worry that stories about normal, working class people with disabilities leading ordinary lives are often overlooked and maybe that is what makes CODA so extraordinary. 

“Let them figure out how to deal with deaf people. We’re not helpless”

Sound of Metal

I first watched Sound of Metal a few weeks before correcting my vision with laser eye surgery. Anything more than a few inches from my face was an intangible blur without glasses. After the movie, I started to question my choice to get LASIK. I worried how my vision would be after surgery. Would it be worth it? What if my vision was only worse, too bad for glasses or what if I lost color? Maybe I should just live my life correcting my vision with glasses and be thankful for what I have. Even though this film got into my head and made me overly empathetic, I still went through with the procedure and as of 6 weeks later, am very happy with the results of my vision. But Sound of Metal isn’t about sight, but exploring and accepting a new world without sound. For a musician and former addict, that is easier said than done. 

Riz Ahmed stars as Ruben, a heavy metal drummer and former heroin addict. Music and his girlfriend, Lou (Olivia Cooke) has been keeping him clean and happy for the past four years. But suddenly Ruben starts to lose his hearing, at a rapid rate. Doctors tell him the hearing he’s lost won’t come back, but he could hear with implants and that he has a responsibility to protect and preserve what little hearing he has left. In response, and probably in denial, Ruben plays a show that night. When he tells Lou what’s happening, she knows this life altering moment could send him spiraling down darker paths, so she finds him help. They meet Joe (Paul Raci) who runs a rehab center for the deaf and tries to help Ruben. Reluctant at first, Ruben adjusts to his hearing loss, learns sign language and finds his feet in this new home. But thinking it will bring his life back to the way it was, Ruben desperately wants to get the implant surgery, even if it means selling everything he owns and rejecting the help of his new friends. 

The sound in this film is phenomenal and helps the audience understand Ruben’s sudden hearing loss. We hear his morning routine once, the buzz of a blender, coffee percolating, then the next morning we hear it as Ruben suddenly does, muffled so it is nearly inaudible. These audio details and lack there of help us empathize with Ruben, understand his frustrations and brings the world of the deaf community to life. I especially love the scene with Ruben drumming on the slide, how we hear what he and the kid hears, and then it cuts to far away to how an onlooker might hear their interaction. Later in the film we hear how the world is after the implant is activated and that is one of the most eye-opening sounds of my life. The sound of that church bell nearly made me cry. It’s what made me question whether lasik was worth the risk, which I realize is completely different, but I knew I’d rather be dependent on glasses rather than seriously ruin what was left of my vision. 

The acting in this film has few big, dramatic or explosive moments. Ruben violently smashing things the morning after his hearing loss worsens is powerful, but not nearly as moving as the tortured control Ahmed brings to calmer scenes. There are so many great moments of frustration and rebellion that are expressed stoically, drawn inward so as to not to raise alarm. Raci’s Joe is a very placid, yet no-nonsense character. He has the feel of an authoritative hippie. And as Raci throws sign language on top of his dialogue, a skill he’s acquired in real life, it often provides extra emotion to his character. It’s wonderful to see these actors nominated for such deserving roles. 

Sound of Metal has been nominated for six academy Awards, including Best Picture. Riz Ahmed is nominated for best lead actor in his role as Ruben. Paul Raci is nominated for best supporting actor for his role as Joe. The other awards include best sound, original screenplay and film editing. All in all, this is all very prestigious, especially considering this is Darius Marder’s directorial debut. 

There’s so many wonderful things going on in Sound of Metal, from the compelling story, great acting and masterful use of sound, I could go on all day. I keep coming back to Ruben’s obsession with wanting to hear again and I get it, it must be incredibly hard to move on and live a life suddenly without one of your major senses. The grief can be too much to accept. But on the other side of that coin, I hear Joe reminding Ruben that being deaf isn’t the end of the world. And this movie helps those outside of the deaf community understand it a little better and appreciate our all too delicate gift of hearing.

“As you know, everybody here shares in the belief that being deaf is not a handicap. Not something to fix. It’s pretty important around here. All these kids… all of us, need to be reminded of it every day.”