There’s something playful, witty and happy about CODA: the sounds of silence from director Sian Heder, available on Apple TV+. Something that won him the Best Picture Oscar at the eventful 2022 gala. Especially when he decides to take a story of growth, overcoming and talent to tell something more unique in the background. The film, French remake The Aries family (2014) by Éric Lartigau, is like its original version, a well-armed trick. From its first scenes, it shows what seems to be a film tribute to art in its purest form. There’s a talented girl determined to succeed thanks to a hard-working teacher. A big, kind and gentle family. And also the predictable plot that leads to early success.
This storyline has been told and broken down in different ways. So much that in its first minutes CODA: the sounds of silence appears to be just another of many identical films. But as the plot progresses – and it does so with unexpected speed – the film takes another look. He does this through the perception of talent as a bridge to the emotional. And at the same time a journey through each of the links that unite us and separate us from those we love. It was then that Heder reflected on the sensory, the intimate and the individual from a new angle.
Because this story of a singer with a radiant voice is also a look at the background of modern sensibility. How we assume, analyze and perceive differences. The way we look at the world through the endless nuances created by unknown spaces. After all, Rubi (Emilia Jones) is the daughter of a family of deaf adults.
Exceptional at home and outside the house, the character must deal with everything that makes up his life. His need to express his talent, to protect his loved ones from a hostile world and to shine in the midst of tensions. At the end, CODA: the sounds of silence surprises with its kaleidoscopic look at passion, the most complex feelings and love. Especially, love in a mysterious dynamic that the director explores with an elegant pulsation.
Wonder, gentleness, kindness in CODA: The Sounds of Silence
When The Aries family created in 2014, it was analyzed whether it was relevant to use actors with real disabilities in the cast. The answer seems to be in his remake in which the cast is made up of deaf actors.
The film creates a virtuoso look at the wonder that a world of sound can cause, translated into sublime and visually particular ideas. But it is also a reflection on what we consider essential and real. CODA: the sounds of silence does not show hearing loss as a differencebut as a new way of perceiving the world.
He creates it through the character of Rubí and through the challenge of communication between the aspirations of the character and his family. Both things are over and reach a new level. A deep, splendid and friendly atmosphere that also encompasses several identity dimensions. CODA: the sounds of silence explores living together in the conception of the family as a refuge, but also the view of independence. Too, to talent as a journey through beauty. A subtle glow that comes from emotion and expresses itself as something bigger and more radiant.
At the end, CODA: the sounds of silence finds its best moments in this mystery that unites all families. Whether with Rubí on stage or at dinner time, what unites us to those we love is an enigma impossible to define. For his last leg – tears in between –CODA: the sounds of silence makes it clear. It sublimates it, elevates it and ultimately demonstrates its full value.
This is an updated version of an article previously published in Hipertextual.
