CODA (2021)
CODA
- 5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥
- Directed by: Siân Heder
- Starring: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, and Daniel Durant
- Where to find it: Apple TV+
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In a world where streaming services have arguably oversaturated
the coming-of-age genre with needless sequels to already poor original titles
(The Kissing Booth franchise I’m looking at you), you could be forgiven for thinking
that the glory days of a genre that produced classics such as Mean Girls and Clueless
was long behind us. Every so often, however, a film pops up that piques the
interest of movie lovers with the touching, unique, and funny ways they bring
their stories to life. Siân Heder’s CODA joins Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Olivia
Wilde’s Booksmart in the increasingly exclusive list of films that have begun
to revitalise the genre.
An English language adaptation of the 2014 French film La
Famille Bélier, CODA gets its name from its’ main character Ruby Rossi (Emilia
Jones), a Child of Deaf Adults (CODA). As the only hearing member of her
family, the story follows Ruby (Emilia Jones) as she finds herself torn between
her passion for music and her fear of abandoning her family and their fishing
business.
CODA is touching in many ways, but most notably in how it portrays
deafness as something to be celebrated rather than something to be pitied.
Various media projects have been criticised in the past for portraying deaf
people, or those with any disability, as helpless, CODA, however, crushes this stereotype
by showing a deaf family living independently and running their own business.
One scene that highlights the importance of this is during an emotional
conversation between Ruby (Emilia Jones) and her brother Leo (Daniel Durant) where
Leo tells his sister that she should go to college and that the family can manage
without her interpretive skills. Durant’s performance as the stoic older brother
is engaging throughout, but his speech about being sick of being treated as an
outsider, ‘let them figure out how to talk to deaf people’, adds a sense of gravitas
to the film.
2014’s La Famille Bélier was criticised upon its’ release
for not hiring deaf actors, a move in which CODA thankfully chose not to follow. Although
Emilia Jones’ performance as Ruby is truly impressive and serves well as the
heart of the movie (I see an Oscar nomination in her future), it’s her family
who really makes this film the masterpiece that it is. Marlee Maltin, Troy Kotsur,
and the aforementioned Daniel Durant play Ruby’s mother, father, and brother (Jackie,
Frank, and Leo) respectively, and are all deaf actors. The chemistry that these
actors, including Emilia Jones, bring to their roles makes it hard to believe
that they’re not a real-life family, with the way that they all seamlessly fit
together. It’s worth noting here that Emilia Jones spent nine months learning
sign language for this movie, and the dedication pays off.
CODA is not only a real emotional heavy hitter, but it also
does a wonderful job of making those who are not deaf ponder scenarios that
they have never had to consider, such as Jackie’s (Marlee Maltin) fear that she
wouldn’t be able to bond with her hearing daughter, ‘I was worried we wouldn’t
connect’. Or how being the only hearing member of your family would make you
unable to know if you had a good singing voice.
Most coming-of-age dramas are usually packed with clichés,
and CODA is no exception, but it’s hard to fault a film for its’ use of
attributes that have become a staple of its’ genre. Especially when the pay-off
for many of these clichés will leaving you sobbing, both with sadness and with
joy. Despite all the emotion, however, CODA is also a very funny movie. Take a
scene where Frank (Troy Kotsur) says ‘You know why God made farts? So deaf
people could enjoy them too’. It’s not a teen-comedy drama without a fart joke
or two. Although, I will say that the comedy teeters off towards the latter
part of the film, in favour of a more emotional and wholesome conclusion.
Oscar season is right around the corner, and with studios
just beginning to release their potential contenders for this years’ ceremony,
don’t be surprised if you see this touching, well-paced, gut-punching delight on
the nominations lists.
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