When Paul Raci sat down to watch “Sound of Metal” at TIFF for the first time, he was sitting next to his wife who has no hearing in her left ear and about 30 percent in her right ear. Raci said…
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
Perfection is rarely achieved in movies, but this heaven-sent concert doc hits the sweet spot. Over two days in January 1972, the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin — she was 29 at the time — sweeps into the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Watts in front of a congregation and testifies to God in song. The blessed thing took nearly half a century to come out because director Sydney Pollack failed to sync the image with the sound. Then digital angels stepped in, and glory, glory, hallelujah!
When Paul Raci sat down to watch “Sound of Metal” at TIFF for the first time, he was sitting next to his wife who has no hearing in her left ear and about 30 percent in her right ear. Raci said she burst into tears because she was able to relate to the way the sound was presented.
“I’ve seen deaf people describe [this film] to me as it did this to them, it seared something in their mind and then right across their very heart, their very soul,” Raci said. “That is the kind of film I’ve always wanted to be involved in. Something that will burn in your mind and let you have an experience.”
In the Variety Streaming Room, senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay spoke with the cast and crew of Amazon’s “Sound of Metal” who were all nominated for an Academy Award this year. The conversation included best actor nominee Riz Ahmed, best supporting actor nominee Raci, original screenplay nominee and director Darius Marder, best editing nominee Mikkel Nielsen and best sound nominee Nicolas Becker.
When Tangcay asked why the film struck a chord with audiences, Ahmed said it’s because his team was trying to capture something truthful. He said what the audience is seeing on screen is a series of spontaneous, unplanned moments that are captured as they unfold for the first time.
“By that, I mean spontaneous, raw, emotionally honest, unplanned,” Ahmed said. “The only way to do that was to do all this preparation, whether it was what Nicolas was doing with creating these crazy soundscapes and going to kind of experiment in soundless chambers. Or what I was doing, learning the drums, or the whole life worth of experience in deaf recovery circles that Paul had brought to the table or Mikkel with you know the scary photographs and paintings behind him.”
Marder expanded on Ahmed’s sentiment, saying that his film hit people because something real happened.
“I think when you touch real life, it pervades,” Marder said. “People feel it.”
Watch the full conversation above.