Sound of Noise

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.

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.

Sound of Noise (2010)

An absurdist, zany, intense, unpredictable film. Rather amazing, really, if you can let go of an ordinary sense of plot and progression.

At the center is a group of drummers who agree to perform a series of pieces by a cutting edge composer all around the city. But their instruments become found objects, heavy machinery, office items, hospital equipment (and hospital patient), so that their performances are intrusive, dangerous, illegal, and wonderfully outrageous.

And funny. Sometimes you laugh aloud, sometimes you just are amused and amazed.

In opposition to this group is a detective who grew up in a family of musicians but who is tone deaf. And he as a special ability to track the musical perps in their crimes--which you'll see.

Kudos should also go to the filmmakers themselves, who make this craziness very fluid and beautiful. Contemporary Stockholm is shown as complex and beautiful and modern and not a Swedish Ikea stereotype.

Finally there is a kind of interpersonal plot that is sort of fun and thin and helps hold the various performance pieces together. Maybe anything more intense on this score would have watered down the absurdist heights of the best of it, but this subplot does have a feel-good pops quality that the rest of the movie avoids. And it's the rest of the movie--mainly the "music" as it happens before your eyes--that is what counts. Great stuff!

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.

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.