Review of Berberian Sound Studio (2012) by Jonathan S — 30 Oct 2013

This is not the sort of film l expect many to people to like and the reasons why are evident in the reviews as they are mostly about unfulfilled expectations. It isn't a genre film of any description (hence its description as 'niche') although one of its themes is horror. To enjoy this movie you simply have to go with it and be prepared to live with ambiguity as there is no attempt at resolution and any attempts at literal interpretation (descent into madness, dreams etc) make no more sense than what we are presented with. Along the way you will have to endure the suffocating sense of claustrophobia throughout and the endless fascination with the machinery of post production. The effect is unsettling and disorienting rather than frightening so that the very, very black humour is best appreciated after the film than during it. As many have observed there are a lot of very obvious references to Cocteau, Lynch etc but there also shades of Monty Python and the impossibility of receiving service (here payment of any kind in Monty Python the insistence the parrot is still alive). There are lots of things l enjoyed about this including the rudeness and surliness of most of the characters, the hackneyed references to 'You Eenglish' , the wonderful sound and graphics for horror film (which of course the director claims is not a horror film), the absolute insanity of the whole film, the complete disengagement of the director and above else the homage to the work of the sound engineer. In contrast to the visual poverty of the film, the soundtrack is a treasure trove of gore and creepiness.

As l said l think most people will be baffled and bored by this but for me it was a pleasure to see something determined to go its own way. There is not much which is truly original but this is a fine concoction of things which are and then some. Top movie.