Movie Corner: Coda

Vendome Pictures (2021)

By HOWARD MCQUITTER II

          What can I say about this motion picture that is “art- house”, perhaps, yet rings to me to be one of the best films since the 2021 Oscars? CODA (the 2021 story) is the precise literary work by both the director and screenwriter: Sian Heder. She tells a story of one family of deaf members except for the daughter, Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones), in a small fishing town (set in Massachusetts) where the family makes their living by catching and selling fish from a boat.

         A superb performance by Emilia Jones and fine performances by the supporting cast: Marlee Matlin (won best actress for Children of a Lesser God [1986], a theme centering on deaf people) as Ruby’s mother; Troy Kotsur (Frank Rossi) as Ruby’s father; and Daniel Durant (Leo Rossi) as her brother. Although Ruby is the only non- deaf person, she is the interpreter for Frank and Leo on the fishing boat. As one can see, making a living by fishing is often drudgery, intertwined with buyers trying to undercut on sales. There is a strong sense the fishermen are dissatisfied with their pay.… Read the rest “Movie Corner: Coda”