I make an effort every March to watch all the best film nominees at the Oscars. Some of these are actually the best and moving films I have ever seen. Films like Manchester by the Sea, Promising Young Woman, Hidden Figures, and the ones I don't like (for example Nomadland) last year were powerful in their own right. The best film nomination never disappoints. So I was eager to watch Coda which turned out to win the Best Film Oscar. So I cranked up the dodgy box / app on the Firestick and found Coda which is a film about a girl called Ruby with a deaf family and she is the only one with the ability to hear. After around 10 minutes into the film I was wondering where Patrick Stewart struggling to play the piano fell into the mix and it was only then I realised I was watching the wrong Coda. There is a 2020 Coda about a classical pianist and a 2021 Coda which was the one nominated for the bloody Oscar. So I did another search and found my film. Right from the start the film dragged me in and I found it very warm hearted but it was so gripping. The cast were perfect and fit I'm seamlessly.
Now most of the film was through sign language and unfortunately the dodgy box had no subtitles so I had to make out the sign language. At the start I thought it was meant that subtitles were not needed but after a ten minute sign language bit , I didn't have a clue what was being said. I was laughing at myself for being such an idiot for watching it without captions. But I am glad I did in the end even though I had to go back through the story online to see what they were saying to each other plus now I have a self thought degree in sign language.
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The main character Ruby played by Emilia Jones is a teenager that can hear while her brother, mother and father are deaf plays an outstanding role. I liked the way they employed a deaf cast as well to add the films appeal.
There is a little love story in the film as well, well three actually, and I found her deaf mother and father to be hilarious.
The film is sad in a way as the young teenager is held back because she has to work with her deaf family to run the family fishing business as she is the only one that can communicate with the fish brokers at their auction. She becomes frustrated as she is a promising singer and her classes are being hampered from her families constant need for her to be with them. She admits to her Mexican music teacher played by Eugenio Derbez who was excellently cast as well that it is the first time she was doing something without them plus it is hard to break free.
I found this film heart warming and sad at the same time but it will have you crying like a baby during it. The film also takes you into a world of deafness like Sound of Metal did last year and it was particularly scary and you could feel the level of frustration in her entire family not being able to hear their daughter perform.
Overall it is a great watch and I will watch it again with the missus once it is captioned. I recommend it and it really is a great watch and I am delighted it won the academy award.
