• Sound of Meal is the debut film from Darius Marder—it touts an exquisite use of sound design and lead performance from Riz Ahmed. Marder’s sound design- coupled with some nice camera location choices (often right on Ahmed shoulder) put the viewer in Ahmed’s character’s headspace as he loses his hearing
  • Marder is a former collaborator of Derek Cianfrance- Marder co-wrote The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
  • Ahmed displays a dedication to the role in both his use of sign language- and his drumming skills—hard not to think of Miles Teller’s work in Whiplash
  • The opening four minutes are magnificent- Ahmed’s Ruben (dyed hair) and Olivia Cooke’s (dyed eyebrows which I found more distracting than anything) Lou in a dark club, putting on a metal concert—we get the title and credits after this powerful display
  • There’s actually an eclectic score in the opening 15 minutes- showing us music is a big part of Ruben’s life and again the camera is on his shoulder like much of Aronofsky’s work (this whole movie is like a B- version of The Wrestler) —we are getting his singular point of view both visually and aurally as he loses his hearing- it is only when we are getting Cooke’s point of you that you can hear what’s fully going on— Marder is dedicated to this throughout the film but it makes for an impressive opening and closing to the film as he goes through is transitions
  • He’s a recovering addict on top of his hearing change- it does turn into a bit of a stylistically quieter rehabilitation movie (Paul Raci as Joe is very good in support) after that like the final chapter of Flight. It settles in—and after the first 45 minutes and doesn’t really have the same momentum until the end of the film in Paris when we see the commanding Matthew Amharic in a small role
  • Near the end after the surgery we get the detailed sound design again- distorted police sirens, city streets— Marder moves the camera from the right shoulder to the left shoulder behind Ahmed at the 114 minute mark in an impressive shot—Ahmed’s Ruben (this is his journey and it has a very strong religious reading) hears the distorted church bells (the Joe character spoke about finding God in the silent moments as an addict)—and that comes full circle in the end as Ruben embraces the silence. Powerful
  • Recommend but not in the top 30 or so of 2019