Sound of Noise (2010)

A tone-deaf cop works to track down a group of guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city.

Directors:

Ola Simonsson, Johannes Stjärne Nilsson

Writers:

Ola Simonsson (screenplay), Johannes Stjärne Nilsson (screenplay)

Stars:

Bengt Braskered, Sanna Persson, Magnus Börjeson

8 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bengt Braskered	...	Amadeus Warnebring (as Bengt Nilsson)
Sanna Persson	...	Sanna (as Sanna Persson Halapi)
Magnus Börjeson	...	Magnus
Marcus Boij	...	Marcus (as Marcus Haraldson Boij)
Johannes Björk	...	Johannes
Fredrik Myhr	...	Myran
Anders Vestergard	...	Anders
Axel Bergendal	...	Amadeus as a Child
Nina Brundahl Warnolf	...	Mother as Young (as Nina Brunndahl Warnolf)
Martin Bergendal	...	Father as Young
Bilo Frenander	...	Grand-Father
Tage Persson	...	Oscar as a Child
Benjamin Peetre	...	Policeman with Radio
Lasse Svensson	...	Motorcycle Police
Paula McManus	...	Colette

Storyline

The narrative revolves around police officer Amadeus Warnebring, tone-deaf scion of a distinguished musical family, and his attempts to track down a group of six guerilla percussionists whose anarchic public performances are terrorizing the city. The drumming set pieces correspond to an avant-garde score with four hilariously titled movements. Where the short involved the six drummers imaginatively using standard apartment furnishings as their instruments, the feature unleashes them on an unspecified city's civic and cultural institutions. Including an amusing backstory for each of the soberly dressed drummers as well as their nemesis, music-hating investigator Warnebring, the film creates a treat for the eyes and ears from the dull, repetitive sounds of everyday life.

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Plot Keywords:

police officer | based on short film | drummer | drumming | excavator | 

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Taglines:

The first musical cop movie

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Music | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

Sweden France

Language:

Swedish English

Release Date:

9 March 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brzmienie halasu

Filming Locations:

Malmö Opera, Malmö, Skåne län, Sweden

Box Office

Budget:

€4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,877, 11 March 2012, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$24,376, 8 April 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bliss,dfm Fiktion,Nordisk Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 110 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the concert the main character's brother is conducting the 2nd movement Haydn's Symphony No 94, the Surprise. It features one loud note - a wake up note - to rouse the possibily sleeping audience, but also as a way of poking fun at the overly pretentious listeners. This fits exactly with one theme of this movie where they are poking fun at the pretentious nature of modern artists who believe everything they make is significant.

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Quotes

Tony the Mother's New Husband: Caught any bad guys lately? Any violinists caught fiddling?

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Crazy Credits

This is a work of fiction. Don't try this at home - electricity kills!

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Connections

References Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers (2001)

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Soundtracks

Children's Corner: Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum
Written by Claude Debussy
Performed by Julia Isaksson

User Reviews

The best movie you've ever heard

When The Sound of Noise ended, I wasn't entirely sure what to think about it. Here is a film so bizarre, with a plot so daffy that it becomes one of those films that you either embrace or reject. It took me quite some time to figure out where I stand with it, and as of now I'm on the embracing side with a few minor reservations.

This is a caper film, but not of the Michael Mann variety. This is something that might make have added Bansky to its thank you's during the closing credits. It involves an unfortunate soul named Amadeus Warnebring, who was born into a family of musical legends. Unfortunately, he was born tone deaf. With that, he grew up and became a detective.

Amadeus seems to be very good at this job, but seems trumped in his current task of tracking down the identities of a terrorist group who have been committing random acts of public disruption. They don't blow things up or hurt anyone, no, they play music at inappropriate places. As the movie opens, the ringleader is being chased through town in a van by the cops while her boyfriend sits in the back and plays the drums in time to a metronome. They act as a sort of Bonnie and Clyde of auditory disruption. What they are doing doesn't seem to make any sense, but what they accomplish is some kind of weird genius.

The crooks get away, and Amadeus is on their trail. We meet the couple, Sanna and Magnus as they work to pull together a masterpiece of musical distraction. They hire four expert drummers, all with differing styles, and determine what objects make the perfect percussive sounds. Their plan is to break into four major institutions, a hospital, a bank, an opera house and high-tension towers and play their music on objects that might be considered non-musical. Each crime will represent a different movement in their composition.

The music isn't especially good, but the audacity with which they commit their dastardly deeds is kind of fun. Attempting to find a purpose behind this might be as futile as trying to understand why clouds look like everyday objects. In the pattern of poetry, it might be said "because it's there." The film has an inevitable sense of humor from which it never recedes. A film this bizarre wouldn't work if it allowed any measure of seriousness to seep in. The scene set in a hospital is the most curious, a the terrorist use the belly of a fat man as one of their instruments and the sound of the oxygen tanks for the tones. The scene at the high-tension towers is the most memorable, with the city's power grid blinking on and off like a bizarre Christmas light display. It is a sight to behold.

If there is a weakness, I'm afraid that it is that this film runs on a bit longer than it should. It is based on a 2001 short film called "Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers" which ran this premise just about as far as it possibly could. This film, at an hour and forty-two minutes, runs its course probably about a half hour longer than it should. Yet, while I complain about the length, I won't complain about the content. I will only say that while it is a good film, not a great one, it succeeded in giving me an experience that I can't say I've ever had before. That's a good thing.