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8.4/10
FilmFascination Rating
If you want the warmth of home and family in a movie with something more, CODA just might be it. Ruby Rossi is the only hearing member of her family (Child Of Deaf Adults) which consists of her father Frank (who interestingly cracks dirty jokes in sign language), her protective mother Jackie and her brother Leo. Although people might consider the movie as a coming-of-age film, Ruby isn’t the typical teenager. Yes, she has her own aspirations, and is excited to work towards them. But she isn’t one of those drama queens or the ones with an attitude. Instead, she is mature and in fact has this responsibility of her family to be the bridge between them and the society. She wakes up at 3 am to go for fishing with Frank and Leo. And even takes up the role of an interpreter almost all the time. For the fishing deals, community meetings, doctor’s appointments, and what not.
“I have to protect them cause they can’t hear it but I can”, she says. One day, just to follow her crush Miles, she impulsively gets into the choir group. Not knowing what she is getting into, she realises that singing is actually her true love. Her singing teacher Bernardo “Mr. V” Villalobos encourages her to sing and brings out the best in her. The scenes where Ruby does not sing well and after Mr. V’s powers of bringing out her true talent she sings melodiously, are appealing and delightful to watch.
Villalobos also encourages her to audition for Berklee College of music. Her protective mother doesn’t want to send her to Boston and on the other hand her brother Leo is tired of him being treated as a baby and thinks they can manage on their own. Due to money issues and some struggles in fishing, the Rossi family are compelled to start their own business to start selling their own fish. Ruby struggles to manage her singing aspirations and her family responsibilities. The story is simple and straightforward. No twists, revelations or something like that.
I won’t say that there aren’t cliches like Ruby is at times made fun of at school, the stern singing master who goes out of his way to help her and a typical crush with some teen romance. But somehow with all the excellent emotion deliveries, the innocent smiles, teary eyes and the fine performances, the movie does manage to get by. It sure is a people pleaser, but not in a bad way. In a way it also shows deaf people in normal, day to day settings. Their struggles, culture, relationship with the society, joys, needs and the community overall is portrayed well.
The story is unique (it’s a remake of the 2014 French film “La Famille Bélier”), at least among the films I have seen, but it deserves praise because of how beautifully they have shown everything. There is genuineness in the connections of each character with one another. It is a love letter to family by the end of which you may feel like you know them as well as you know your own. The incredible performances by Emilia Jones (Ruby Rossi), Marlee Matlin (Jackie Rossi), Troy Kotsur (Frank Rossi) and Daniel Durant (Leo Rossi) gives you that connective spirit. The deaf characters in the movie are real life deaf actors.
Troy Kotsur also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Frank Rossi. CODA brings humour at times but also touches the audience on a different level with some of its scenes. There are scenes that will stir you to the core, like the one where Frank listens to Ruby sing by holding up his hands to her vocal cords. Furthermore, there are scenes where your face will just light up with a smile, like the singing scene where Ruby makes the deaf signs for her family. Also, the scene where during the singing concert, for a while, the movie goes utterly silent which makes you feel what the Rossi’s are actually going through.
It’s a pity that the charm of films like Coda is nowadays ignored by movie viewers for all the extravagant action movies. Real beauty does lie in simplicity. One of the great things about CODA is that it takes it’s time for the necessary scenes. You know, emotions cannot be rushed. I hate it when movies take this rapid pace and then expect the audience to connect with it. That just does not happen. Emotions need time to flow. The singing audition, the concert and the family bonding have all been given time. Hence CODA nails it in this region.
CODA had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where Apple acquired its distribution rights for a festival-record $25 million. CODA also won the Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards. Heder (Writer and Director) learned American Sign Language in the process of writing the script. Furthermore, members of the fishing-industry non-profit Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association helped Heder for the local fishing practices.
Emilia Jones, at such a small age, is very mature in her acting. She is stunning in her dialogues, sign language and even singing. She shows so many emotions without saying a single word. Jones took voice lessons and learned ASL for nine months before filming started. She has a very sweet, genuine and memorable voice. Whenever I listen to the songs sung by her in the movie, it reminds me of CODA. In a way the songs become an important part of the film. It is sad that the Academy Awards completely ignored her performance in the Best Actress category (Yes, it was that good).
In an interview Emilia Jones said that the scene where she sings ‘Both sides Now’ in the end was the most challenging scene for her because she had to get the vocals right along with the sign language. For me it became the most heart-warming and beautiful scene in the movie.
Favourite Quotes
Frank Rossi: You know why God made farts smell? So deaf people could enjoy them too.
Ruby Rossi: You have no idea what it’s like to hear people laugh at your family. And I have to protect them, cause they can’t hear it, but I can.
Ruby Rossi: [signing] Did you ever wish I was deaf?
Jackie Rossi: [signing] When you were born, at the hospital, they gave you a hearing test. And there you were, so tiny and sweet, with those electrodes all over you. And I… prayed that you would be deaf. When they told us that you were hearing, I felt… My heart sank.
Ruby Rossi: [signing] Why?
Jackie Rossi: [signing] I was worried that we wouldn’t connect. Like me and my mom, we’re not close. I thought I would fail you. That being deaf would make me a bad mom.
Ruby Rossi: [signing] Don’t worry. You are a bad mom for so many other reasons.
[They laugh]
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