Forgotten Friday Flick – “Sound Of Noise”
Keeping the stellar #1 selections of my previous years going, this week sees the film that captured the top prize from 2012 getting a little past picture love – welcome to Forgotten Friday Flick! Original is the name of the game for this Swedish import that dared to combine inspired musical concerts with an anarchist sensibility. The toe tapping tale of a gang of drummers who decide to play out their four musical movements terrorist style – all the while with a music hating cop hot on their tale. It’s orchestra with an edge via the fully five-star gem…Sound Of Noise.
Amadeus Warnebring, despite his notable first name, is a guy who hates music. Tone-deaf since birth, annoyingly coming from a highly musical family and with a distinctive distain for all things melodic, Amadeus ultimately decides to go against the grain and becomes a policeman. But he finds his latest case involving a gang of musical anarchists who are playing illegal musical concerts in various public locations simply to disrupt and buck the system soon begins to challenge his past rhythmic rumblings. Not to mention that the charismatic leader Sanna gives the focused lawman pause. Can the group of odd unlawful musical outcasts be stopped? Where will they hit next? And ultimately what is the gang’s end game?
With its wide range of splendid story devices and musings, it’s hard to pinpoint just what makes Sound Of Noise such a wondrous cinematic experience. Part musical romp (a big belly does make for a good base drum!), part detective story (Bengt Nilsson’s cop is a cross between Roberto Benigni and Tony Shalhoub’s Monk!) and part buck the system drama (illegal terrorist style music concerts kinda rule – angry anarchists of the world unite!), Sound of Noise takes pride in being a unique tale that’s not programmed, categorized or easily referenced. It could be the inspired and impromptu musical concerts that cleverly and joyously use everyday items to bring sound to life, the cool chemistry between unlikely lead couple Bengt Nilsson as the uptight Amadeus and Sanna Persson as the captivating Sanna or perhaps maybe even the fabulous Fincher-esk moments and subversive messages via talented filmmaking duo Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjärne Nilsson that lovingly add layers here.
But in the end it’s definitely all of the above and then some that makes Sound Of Noise one of the most unconventional, unique and totally indescribable film experiences that happens along maybe once in a movie geeks lifetime – this can’t-be-categorized piece of celluloid keeps the hits coming.