Movie Review by Matthew Schuchman
You and five friends are on a mission. You’re wearing ski masks, dressed in black, and force your way into a bank. All of the employees are moved into a position away from the money and you have three minutes to have your way with the place, as the silent alarm has been tripped, and you know it. What do you do? Put on a drum clinic, of course.
Amadeus Warnebring is the eldest child in a family of musical geniuses. His father is a world famous conductor and his brother was a violin virtuoso at the age of four. Amadeus however, is tone-deaf. He hates music and anything dealing with it. As the top officer in Sweden’s Anti-Terrorism unit, Amadeus is taken aback when he becomes the lead on an investigation of what turns out to be, musical terrorists. Now by musical terrorists, I mean, a group of six drummers that are choosing specific points in their city, then using everything around them to create their magnum opus. The group has specific needs, while amongst other things, breaking into a hospital and stealing a patient to be used as a human drum machine, and taking over a bank for some beat-tastic fun. They also “rent” some construction vehicles for some earth shaking bass, and play with the city’s power lines a bit.
The Sound of Noise is not a preachy lesson on the importance of performance arts. It’s a witty adventure that hits all the bases. A romance, a comedy, a musical, a drama, an action film; it’s all those possible genres rolled into one, and is delivered in a pleasing, groove-inducing package. The amount of thought that went into producing quality drum-centric music is equaled in the script writing. The storytelling aspects were not written as a throw away to house creative ways these drummers would exact their master plan of sound madness, instead, it’s all pertinent.
The story places an amazing contrast between its two main characters. Amadeus wants nothing more than for all music to stop. Sanna, the mastermind behind the group of musical marauders wants people to understand that music is not just the pretty packaged material that has been sold to the public; music is everywhere. Their opposing views don’t keep them from sharing an interest in the other. They both can benefit from the other and it’s this perplexing, almost non-existent relationship that keeps the movie from falling into pointless space. It’s easy to get caught up in the interesting ways the group finds environments to play their epic masterpiece, but the rest of the tale keeps the movie grounded and moving forward. One part without the other would collapse this film into oblivion.
Around halfway through the film, I was decided. While The Sound of Noise has been making its way around festival circuits and released overseas, the fact that March 9th marks its official U.S. release, The Sound of Noise is the best film I’ve seen this year. Check your local listings, take a weekend vacation to whatever city it’s playing in, write your congressman, and alert the press. Do what it takes to enjoy the wonders of The Sound of Noise.
Rating: 4 out of 5 ‘Staches
