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:

EUR4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,877, 11 March 2012

Gross USA:

$24,565

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$241,072

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

Amadeus Warnebring: You might as well shut up. I can't hear you.

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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

Slight but highly entertaining

Give credit to Sound of Noise: despite dealing with such lofty themes such as the nature of music and its performance, it never becomes unnecessarily arty or academic. Instead, the movie has loads of quirky humour and an energetic plot, driven by a group of drummers-become-art-terrorists and their plan of turning everyday urban soundscapes into avant-garde percussion pieces. Bengt Nilsson does a nice performance as Amadeus Warnebring, a manic, tone-deaf and music-hating offspring of a family of classical pianists and conductors. The drummers are presented pretty much as caricatures of progressive musicians, but as such they're spot-on and funny. Even though the film-makers' sympathies are clearly on the side of the drummers, they're not above making gentle fun of avant-garde's excesses, and they're also surprisingly understanding of Warnebring's desire to live in a world of silence, with no music. The plot of the movie is slight, with some key elements left unexplained, but its fast-paced and constantly entertaining execution makes up for that. At the heart of Sound of Noise are the percussion pieces performed by the drummers, and they do not disappoint. The four performances seen in the film are awe-inspiring in their mise-en-scène, sound design and editing. For those scenes alone, Sound of Noise would be worth a view; as a whole, it's a quirky but easily-digested piece of pop art.