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Notes from Underground

  And, indeed, I will ask on my own account here, an idle question: which is better—cheap happiness or exalted sufferings? Well, which is better?---Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Fyodor Dostoevsky ---Notes from Underground Even now, so many years later, all this is somehow a very evil memory. I have many evil memories now, but ... hadn’t I better end my “Notes” here? I believe I made a mistake in beginning to write them, anyway I have felt ashamed all the time I’ve been writing this story; so it’s hardly literature so much as a corrective punishment.  Why, to tell long stories, showing how I have spoiled my life through morally rotting in my corner, through lack of fitting environment, through divorce from real life, and rankling spite in my underground world, would certainly not be interesting; a novel needs a hero, and all the traits for an anti-hero are expressly gathered together here, and what matters most, it all produces an unpleasant impression, for we are...
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Hope

To be human is to be a miracle of evolution conscious of its own miraculousness — a consciousness beautiful and bittersweet, for we have paid for it with a parallel awareness not only of our fundamental improbability but of our staggering fragility, of how physiologically precarious our survival is and how psychologically vulnerable our sanity. To make that awareness bearable, we have evolved a singular faculty that might just be the crowning miracle of our consciousness: hope.-- Erich Fromm


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Sound of Metal (2019)



Riz Ahmed gives an extraordinary performance as a punk-metal drummer and recovering addict who is going deaf
Ruben is a small-time punk metal drummer .He lives in an RV with his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke), and the two form a touring band .
One day, Ruben’s hearing suddenly, abruptly disappears; a doctor informs him he won’t regain his hearing, although expensive implant surgery is an option.
Hearing loss comes on suddenly — the sound drops out from his surroundings, and voices become muffled. Ruben reaches for his ears, his eyes dart around, and we see abject terror on his face.
Lou convinces Ruben to enter a rural community rehab center for deaf people struggling with addictions.The rehab is run by Vietnam vet Joe (Paul Raci).


 

"On the surface it’s a solid and and absorbing character study. But thanks to Marder’s script and masterful direction, and Ahmed’s beautiful performance, there are increasingly deeper layers that take this movie to a deeper place."
The fragility of daily existence is captured empathetically and compassionately in Darius Marder’s excellent “Sound of Metal,” a film that should catapult Riz Ahmed to the top of any producer’s casting list. His work here is a model of restraint, a performance that goes for the effective low-key choices instead of the broad emotional ones every time and is all the more powerful by feeling more genuine. Films about life-changing events often play to the cheap seats, turning up the melodrama to tug at the heartstrings, but Marder and Ahmed have collaborated here on an incredibly refined character piece. It’s a movie that doesn’t just allow for silence but thrives in it, with Ahmed’s eyes and body language charting the arc of his character. He doesn't miss a beat.

The other star of “Sound of Metal” for most people will be the sound design. Marder regularly puts us in Ruben’s state, hearing muffled sounds or unintelligible conversations. In fact, it’s interesting to note when Marder traps viewers in Ruben’s auditory condition and when he allows us to escape it (the latter often happens only when Ruben could otherwise “hear” the conversation, such as in a speech-to-text program used by Joe).

As much of a breakthrough as the sound design is here, it really is Riz Ahmed’s movie. It’s no surprise that he learned how to play drums in the six months before shooting and studied deafness. It just speaks to the depth or performance. There’s not a single scene or emotional beat that feels false.
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sound-of-metal-movie-review-2020

Marder hass spent the past decade trying to make “Sound of Metal.” The idea for the movie came 13 years ago, Marder says, when he first met writer/director Derek Cianfrance, with whom he co-wrote The Place Beyond the Pines.”










Revolutionary Sound Design

The most distinctive technical aspect of the film is its auditory perspective. Sound designer Nicolas Becker created a sonic landscape that mimics Ruben's experience:

  • Initial Loss: Muffled, low-frequency hums and distorted vibrations.

  • ASL Immersion: Long stretches of silence that force the audience to focus on visual communication and body language.

  • Cochlear Implants: A harsh, metallic, and "synthetic" soundscape that highlights the difference between biological hearing and digital reconstruction.








Production and Authenticity

Darius Marder spent over a decade developing the project, prioritizing authenticity in every department:

  • Preparation: Riz Ahmed spent seven months learning American Sign Language (ASL) and practicing the drums for two hours a day. He also wore custom-made hearing blockers that emitted white noise, ensuring he couldn't even hear his own voice during filming.

  • Casting: Many of the supporting actors were drawn from the actual Deaf community. Paul Raci, who plays Joe, is a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) and a veteran, bringing lived experience to his role as a bridge between the hearing and deaf worlds.

  • The Script: The film originated from a documentary project by Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines) titled Metalhead, which followed a real-life metal duo. Marder took that seed and grew it into a fictional narrative focused on the internal "kingdom of stillness."






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