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6
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2021
15
director: Sian Heder
starring: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kutser, Daniel Durant, Amy Forsyth, Ferdia Walsh Peelo, Eugenio Derbez.
As a CODA (child of deaf adults) Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the families fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love for music and her fear of abandoning her parents. Wow what a truly moving and incredible film, I have so many amazing things to talk about here.
My first few positives would be the amazing cinematography. The charming tone and humour. Excellent chemistry and performances from the cast. As well as the deep themes and excellent representation. This film was visually amazing. Not for its creative shots but for its beautiful simplicity, with long shots really highlighting the beautiful set locations of the film. The film had such a charming tone as well especially with its humour. None of it felt forced and it came across authentically, the family’s interactions were so heartfelt and charming, and the awkward situations with Ruby’s parents and Ruby and her brother offered a lot of great comedic moments. The whole family had such fantastic chemistry with each other, and it made the film seem so genuine and much more fun to watch. The whole cast also delivered excellent performances here. Everyone executed passionate, charismatic, and powerful performances showing a lot of versatility, specifically with Emilia Jones who was insanely impressive here. The themes that this film touched upon was also very moving. It tackled anxiety, fear of abandonment, responsibility, and the difficulties of having a disability so well and in so much depth it was amazing to watch. It was written so well and was often really moving to see. The representation for the deaf community this film gave was also amazing. It truly was done in a genuine and authentic way, highlighting the struggles the deaf community face, but also highlighting how they adapt and can live a normal life.
My next few positives would be the soundtrack and music elements, the great character conflict and depth. As well as balance to the conflict. As well as the likeable main character and strong supporting cast with unique storytelling. The film did a really good job with its music elements. The Soundtrack was fun and Ruby or shall I say Emilia Jones had a beautiful voice and it was amazing to see her grow in confidence with her voice as the film developed. Ruby as a character was also just extremely likeable. I really connected to her character with her anxiety and social awkwardness, she got so used to people making fun of her due to her family it really knocked back her confidence. But as the film developed her confidence grew and so did my love for her character. She helped her family so much and sacrificed a lot for them. The character depth was some of the best I have seen. Each character had their own journey or things to grow on throughout the film. The son felt left out of the family and was finding his path into being accepted as a man. And the mother and father really grew in terms of their openness to see their daughter happy. Ruby as a character had a tremendous amount of depth, which is linked to the conflict. Her family have always been so reliant on her to interpret what other people say or to help with the business, in the process stopping Ruby from achieving her goals in life, and this film showed a great balance to both sides of the conflict and all the characters really grew from this conflict in terms of understanding each other. I also thought the supporting cast was very strong. Ferdia Peelo and Eugenio Derbez in particular. Eugenio Derbez delivered a charismatic performance; his character was so likeable. Despite a perhaps slightly harsh way of teaching occasionally he genuinely cares about his students and his chemistry with Ruby was a fantastic element to the film. Ferdia Peelo was also fantastic. The romance wasn’t a big part of the film which I loved as it didn’t need to be the main focus. But he delivered a charming performance and his romantic chemistry with Emilia was great to see. Finally, I loved the unique storytelling. This film really incorporated sign language into how the story was told which I loved. Often due to being with a deaf family Ruby expressed her emotions through sign even though she could speak, due to her confidence issues she found this the best way to communicate. It was such a clever and interesting way to incorporate sign language that felt fresh and unique to the film.
My final few positives would be the uplifting moments, emotional weight and moving ending. This film was so uplifting and offered such a hopeful message about living with a disability and showing that you can learn and adapt to live a normal life. This film had so much emotional weight and really got to me. It was just heart-breaking to see the families struggles, they couldn’t enjoy Ruby’s singing because they couldn’t hear it and the personal scenes between Ruby and her parents really touched me. This movie handled its deep themes and really showed what it’s like to be deaf, and it has really stuck with me. The ending was so moving, the family were such a strong unit by the end, fully supporting Ruby. And Ruby getting accepted into music school was so powerfully done, with her audition being sung and done in sign language at the same time. It was truly moving cinema.
Overall, CODA is my favourite film of the year and completely deserved its win at Sundance. In a powerful, moving, and uplifting story. That was incredibly written. Filled with incredible performances and it really moved me emotionally. Offering so many beautiful messages about love, acceptance, and family. Giving important representation to the deaf community showing that with hard work, determination, and cooperation with the people around you, people with disabilities are just as capable at living a normal life.
Overall rating 100/100
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I have been trying to watch Coda for so long now, but I never set aside enough time for myself to have to pay attention so I could read it. But what better time to do it then on a Friday night after I read a three hour Japanese movie. Coda is such a heartwarming and touching film full of so many powerful moments. I know it has a cheesy plot but come on, it’s so well put together and so well acted and will make you cry so hard you have to look past it. This Apple TV+ original got itself three nominations this year; Best Picture, Troy Kotsur for Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It’s definitely not winning Best Picture, and shouldn’t really but it’s very very good. But Kostur 101% deserves the best actor award. He has two of the most powerful scenes I’ve seen this year. The Adapted Screenplay I think was them being nice, there’s better options this year. I’m pretty mad that Emilia Jones isn’t nominated for something this year, she delivers such a great performance alongside Kotsur. Marlee Matlin is great as the mother and delivers some good scenes as well. Daniel Durant is alright, he just doesn’t get as much time as the others. But he does have one great scene. Eugenio Derbez is so good as the eccentric choir teacher who refuses to give up on a kid. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo plays really well off of Jones but the poor guy gets no scenes without her. I kid you not I cried about five times watching this and one of the times I was full on sobbing. And I do mean sobbing, like, tears pooling on my neck. The final ten minutes or so is just so god damn touching. This movie is also filmed really well, Director Siân Heder sneaks some beautiful shots into the movie starting with the very first one. This movie takes an unoriginal plot and gives it new life by adding an amazing depiction of a deaf family and what it means to have to be an interpreter for your entire life. Call me crazy, I’m giving Coda a full on 10/10 and I’ll accept no hate for it. I just can’t overlook how it made me feel. If you don’t cry at this at least once, what kind of emotionless monster are you. Please give this a watch, there’s something here for many different kinds of people to like. -Tyler.
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