Sound of Noise

Amadeus Warnebring is a police detective. He is tone-deaf from birth despite coming from a family of extraordinary musicians. As such, he has a complicated and distasteful relationship with music. Sanna and Magnus lead a group of underground musicians looking for new sounds. They break into a hospital and play a famous patient. Amadeus is brought in to investigate the "terrorists".

This is much more fun on the page. The musical capers have a certain energy but they do get tired by the end. The deadpan humor is not the funniest but I see what they're trying for. It has great originality and the percussive fun of the Blue Man Group. Full marks for the idea if not for the execution.

Viewed at the Festival du Film, Cannes 2010

Now that you've read the plot summary... Okay, a group of drummers terrorise a city with their daring musical 'raids' while a tone deaf, music hating, detective tries to track them down... The Sound of Noise is the kind of dark comedic madness only the Scandinavians do so well: percussionists as musical terrorists laying down the beat for an entire city.

This is a conceit built around the musicians themselves, taking several of their set-piece numbers and weaving them into a narrative structure. In this sense, seen as a film with the classic three act structure, story and character development etc., Sound of Noise is less successful. But as a showcase for amazing musical ability and sheer imagination, this film cannot be beaten.

Sound of Noise actually manages the very rare feat of laying out a unique spin on the detective/police procedural format. Oh the elements are there, there's a cop, there's a band of "terrorists" who are always two steps ahead, there's a personal connection between the acts of the terrorists and the detective's home life, there's a very neat cat and mouse game between the detective and the leader of the terrorists (who happens to be a blond woman) but of course the fact that the band of terrorists are all frustrated musicians and that the act of terror they're spreading is musical based (they get together at various locations and "play" any object that's around--staging these very performance art like set pieces in areas and pretty much annoying the heck out of everyone who happens to be around) This movie is definitely far more original then any other cop movie is these days. (well any that i can think of as of the time i'm writing this at least) Of course none of that originality wouldn't mean anything if the pacing of the movie weren't tight, or if the lead character's personal life weren't also interesting, or if the suspense of what the detective is actually going to do once he captures this band of terrorists (or even if he wants to capture them given his personal background) I have to give a lot of credit to this movie for being pretty original in that even with a well worn format i still had little idea where the movie was ultimately going to go--and if the last ten or twenty minutes don't exactly play out the way you'd like them to--that's pretty OK because quite honestly i'm not sure i could've come up with a better ending either. (and really the more i think about it the more i quite like the ending--it very much matches the tone and events of what came before and what we've come to know about the 2 leading characters throughout the movie) Will this movie hold up on repeat viewing? i'd like to think so--even if the frustrated musical terrorists ultimately become annoying---i really really really quite enjoyed the detective's back story and how his back story plays into his need to capture this band of terrorists. Its actually kind of a cute love story in a way, a bizarre one, but definitely a cute one. About that background of the cop tho---when you read the following sentence--you're reaction to it should indicate whether you'd be charmed or annoyed by this film. The lead detective happens to not especially care for music because he comes from a family of well known music lovers--his brother is a conductor for the local symphony while he himself is rather tone deaf and clueless about what makes good music--so of course it should fall to him to stop this musical band of terrorists from spreading their own brand of "music" around town. I'm telling you right now--if that bit of whimsy makes you wanna hit your computer screen then this movie is definitely not for you--but then again what are you doing looking at these user comments here in the first place if not to check this one out a little bit???

Give credit to Sound of Noise: despite dealing with such lofty themes such as the nature of music and its performance, it never becomes unnecessarily arty or academic. Instead, the movie has loads of quirky humour and an energetic plot, driven by a group of drummers-become-art-terrorists and their plan of turning everyday urban soundscapes into avant-garde percussion pieces. Bengt Nilsson does a nice performance as Amadeus Warnebring, a manic, tone-deaf and music-hating offspring of a family of classical pianists and conductors. The drummers are presented pretty much as caricatures of progressive musicians, but as such they're spot-on and funny. Even though the film-makers' sympathies are clearly on the side of the drummers, they're not above making gentle fun of avant-garde's excesses, and they're also surprisingly understanding of Warnebring's desire to live in a world of silence, with no music. The plot of the movie is slight, with some key elements left unexplained, but its fast-paced and constantly entertaining execution makes up for that. At the heart of Sound of Noise are the percussion pieces performed by the drummers, and they do not disappoint. The four performances seen in the film are awe-inspiring in their mise-en-scène, sound design and editing. For those scenes alone, Sound of Noise would be worth a view; as a whole, it's a quirky but easily-digested piece of pop art.

The first scene in the car is unforgettable and brilliant. The character intros are clichés but work well and bring out assured laughs. The premise is far-fetched but ingenious. Art and music terrorism is well explored and the points well taken, although the anarchist approach relies too much on the opposition to classical music in my taste as opposed to perhaps seeing it as an extension or evolution. Classical music is demonized and various forms of pop are frown upon, yet the final song which may be the best one is a popish bossa nova ballad.

The acts of terrorism are in 4 acts of a musical mastermind mayhem. The first one works the best in all aspects and especially musically while the 3 others like the rest of the movie starts to drag. Narratively, some elements are very weak and even if it is a wacky comedy makes for uninteresting moments and unreal connections. I was annoyed at many situations, reactions and characters which may be the case for some viewers.

However this film should still be seen for its inventive premise and many memorable scenes. Some scenes are beautiful and some are truly laugh out loud funny. Have a look at it and decide if you want to fast-forward some of it or claim it to be the next best thing like the Young Critics at Cannes and many others did.

And let there be silence.