Bound to be one of the more
divisive films of Fantastic Fest, Berberian Sound Film takes the
kernel of a terrific idea and tries to expand it into a feature. That
it almost makes it to finish speaks well of a premise ripe for
exploration. It's unfortunate that the missteps towards the end cause
it to stumble, and left the taste of mild disappointment.
An Italian film production
recruits Gilderoy (Toby Jones) to oversee the sound mix for their
upcoming horror film. Gilderoy embodies the prim and proper uptight
British mannerism and soon realizes he has no idea what he signed on
for with regards to both the Argento inspired extreme content of the
film and the unprofessional, borderline criminal crew responsible for
putting it together. As each day passes on the set the unfolding
events on screen begin to take their toll and Gilderoy begins to lose
his professionalism while starting to unravel. He starts to see a
conspiracy forming with every dodged inquiry regarding missed expense
reimbursement and a sinister plot behind the eyes of every sidelong
glance. The language barrier and cultural divide serve to keep him on
edge and wary of the crew, especially the brusque executive producer
(Cosimo Fusco)
Exploring the toll prolonged
exposure violent images take on someone unfamiliar or adverse to the
genre is ripe for exploration. Toss in the fact that Jones' character
works the set, and thus gets to see “how the sausage gets made”
yet still can't separate fiction and reality makes Berberian
all the more fascinating. The entirety of the film confines itself
within the engineering booth, the sound stage and Gilderoy's attached
apartment. That Jones never interacts with anyone outside the cramped
walls give the impression of the setting bearing down on him all the
more. The fact is there's no driving plot aside from the crew needing
to complete the film under time and budget. Despite Gilderoy's
gnawing suspicion that life has begun to imitate art, there's no
grand conspiracy against him. Gilderoy simply lacks the stomach to
tolerate the film's unseemly material and the backbone to stand up to
his abusive employers.
Strickland employs the
trappings of Giallo within the recording studio in order to mirror
the film within the film. Berberian never shows a single frame of
movie Gilderoy works on but provides plenty of aural cues, sound
track snippets and narration describing the ludicrous set up of each
scene to paint an image of an over-the-top mess commonly found in
Italian horror. Strickland also shows off glimpses of Gilderoy at
work which provides a fascinating look behind the curtain of movie
making. Jone's engineer is a master at manipulating and amplifying
mundane household activities and objects twisted into the shape of
piercing audio. Ultimately Berberian Sound Studio is a film tailored
to those who love digging in to the details of movie making rather
than those who just want an entertaining story.
Unfortunately Berberian goes
off the rails at a specific moment in the last twenty minutes.
Perhaps feeling the need to have something happen
Strickland pushes in an unneeded and confusing direction. The last
section of the film takes on the trappings of a confusing dream where
objects and characters appear recognizable yet skirt outside the
grasp of the the established reality. Events occur on screen that
make no sense when paired with the following scene. It's a shift of
only a few degrees, but its ambiguity and ends the film on an
unclear, sour note.
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