By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Johannes Stjärne Nilsson | Ola Simonsson
Starring: Bengt Nilsson | Fredrik Myhr | Johannes Björk | Magnus Börjeson | Marcus Boij | Sanna Persson
Country: france, sweden
Year: 2012
Running time: 102
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278449/
Toni says: “SOUND OF NOISE is a Swedish absurdist, quirky black comedy about a tone deaf detective that hates music whose brother is famous for composing and conducting.
“He has to investigate the workings of musical ‘terrorists’ that create mayhem in the town in their live performances since none of them fit in the traditional music world; they consist of 2 rebel composers and literally 6 drummers.
“The film is hilarious in its brilliant sue of the sound design and industrial and avant garde music as a character in the film and in its relations to the central characters in the film. The acting and production design is also top notch in building this world of what you hear and what you cannot hear in each movement.
“SOUND OF NOISE has a dazzling finale with both visuals and the experience of the actual ‘sound of silence’. 5 Cats (or 6 out of 6 Drummers)”
Julie says: “I loved this movie!
“The Swedes like the Danish seem to have a very dry and excellent sense of humor! A very creative and different sort of movie that took 4 years to make. It’s clear a lot of work went into the detail of the musical performances. I’ll mention that if you’re NOT a classical fan and more into percussion and electronic, this is the movie for you! And if the music doesn’t appeal I think you can still get a big kick out of the movie. So many strong, yet subtle performances.
“The short the movie was based on is in the special features and that was my favorite performance of all. I watched the short 3 times!
“I knew I’d love this movie after seeing the trailer long ago and it did not disappoint. 5 BIG cats”
Jason says: “A little bit of IMDB link-following as I prepared to write up THE SOUND OF NOISE has me somewhat more curious than usual about how it played and was perceived in its native Sweden. Was it a Six Drummers feature with a lot more plot than their usual shorts, or was it considered a funny detective movie with antagonists that fans of goofy percussion might recognize? It doesn’t really matter, as the end result is great fun, but I’m curious nonetheless.
“It’s not the drummers that get the movie started, though, but Amadeus Warnebring (Bengt Nilsson), the head of Malmo’s anti-terrorism squad, which would be impressive to most families, but he comes from a family of musicians, with his brother Oscar (Sven Ahlstrom), a conductor and one-time child prodigy, much favored over tone-deaf Amadeus. When he recognizes the ticking outside an embassy as not a bomb but a metronome, he doesn’t realize that perpetrators Sanna (Sanna Persson) and Magnus (Magnus Borjeson) are planning a four-act opus of musical anarchy, ‘Music for a City and Six Drummers’, with four other comrades (Marcus Haraldson Boij, Johannes Bjork, Fredrik Myhr, and Anders Vestergard) joining in.
“Amadeus Warnebring is an interesting creation; a lot of movies would make the cop who hates music because of something in his past a cartoonish monster, receiving either his comeuppance or an unlikely conversion at the end. Amadeus is sympathetic, though; the scenes where he is unable to connect with his family will likely strike some as familiar, as will the idea of not loving something everyone assumes you should even though, yes, you ‘get it’. Nilsson plays his part straight, but doesn’t make him so uptight that audiences can’t like the guy, and is pretty funny when the action starts to drive him around the bend.
“The other stars of the movie are the Six Drummers, and they’re a fun crew. Sanna Persson is the one who has the most experience as an actor as opposed to just being a musician, so it’s not surprising that she is given the most opportunity to portray a fully-realized person of the group playing fictionalized versions of themselves; she’s got a story that includes a connection with Amadeus. The rest all have their moments, too – they may not be actors but they’re funny, and can certainly get a personality across through how they play.
“And it’s the scenes in which they do play that the movie will be remembered for – four escalating set-pieces that find music being made from unlikely ‘instruments’, where the catchy rhythms built out of unusual sounds get the audience bopping along a bit even as it’s laughing at the incongruity of the thing. The only real issue with them is that they occasionally get interrupted by the story (unlike the original ‘Music for an Apartment and Six Drummers’, where the characters don’t talk and any plot must be inferred); you’ll have this big thing where the characters are driving construction equipment to play a song and then the movie will cut to Amadeus, dropping the cool performance from the mix as he realizes that the drummers are nearby.
“It doesn’t actually hurt the movie all that much, but writer-director Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjarne Nilsson do occasionally have some problems with balancing the story they’re trying to tell with the pure eccentricity that surrounds it. The bits where Amadeus can’t hear something after the Drummers have used it as an instrument seem to be reaching for an idea that never quite comes together, for instance. And there’s something a bit off about the ending, like they know how to bring the story to a conclusion, but they’re not quite able to articulate the point they want to make in doing so.
“Still, that’s a lot better than many people trying to build a story around a bit of music do. It may not quite come together as a
whole, but the individual pieces of SOUND OF NOISE – the detective, the ‘songs’, the deadpan bits of comedy – are certainly good enough to make it an entertaining evening. 4 cats
“Seen 14 March 2013 in Jay’s Living Room (Chlotrudis Catch-up, Amazon Streaming)
Diane says: “Buried Treasure nom. A music-phobic detective, the black sheep of a highly musical family, must solve a run of crimes organized by musical terrorists. Compositions played on everyday objects are entertaining, but plot is middling. Has the detective, yearning for silence, never heard of John Cage’s 4’33”? 3 cats”
Toni responds: “Have to disagree here…I loved the plot which matched the sound and set design…a black comedy that gave me the chills in the adventure of such odd characters :)…5 big cats still to me.”
Julie responds: “I agree with Toni on this one in my rating- The plot was not complex but the movie was brilliant re the music and set design and hilarious in a very Swedish way (I may have erroneously said this was Danish in my review).
“The short that it was based on was so so fantastic (I thought)… really well done and so funny…..
“It’s a must see movie.”
Michael responds: “I’m with Diane on this one. I thought SOUND OF NOISE was refreshingly original and quirky, and it is well worth it’s Buried Treasure nomination, but in the end I wanted more. Definitely worth seeing, with appealing performances and as I said, an original screenplay, but overall I give it 3.5 cats”
Scot responds: “I agree. Good film, original, clever. But not a compelling story when it comes down to it. Not one that really grabbed me and stuck in my mind. 3.5 cats also.
“Watch it, definitely. But I don’t think it’ll stick with you unless you’re … say … a drummer.”
Toni responds: “OK, it is one of the few nominees that didn’t make me want to slit my wrists…but as a radio DJ of obscure music for many years and an appreciation of ‘drumming’ and a plot has a build up like a performance throughout similar in a way to the much more disturbing REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, I really think this a gem of a film…truly original…I smiled the whole time like many did for A SOMEWHAT GENTLE MAN.
“I really liked the pacing here too compared to OSLO, AUGUST 31 that took longer to find its way for me but made less of
an impact for me but certainly was powerful.”