The Sounds of Silence — THE SHADOW of the SUN
By William J. Hammon, ActuallyPaid.com
Underdog stories are nothing new. This is mostly because we as a people live in an inequitable society that has no shortage of underdogs by design. Some setbacks are systemically ingrained, while others occur more naturally, and still more are just the result of bad luck and the unseen hand of fate. However, the way people respond to the challenges of an unfair life, the way they snatch the small victories despite the odds being ever against them, that will always be a rich well from which to draw inspiration. And when the effort is genuine and earnest, no amount of familiarity will stop such a story from properly tugging on the heartstrings and warming the proverbial cockles.
Such is the case with Venezuela’s Oscar submission for this year, The Shadow of the Sun, directed and co-written by Miguel Ángel Ferrer, who has made a name for himself through short films and music videos up until now. Focusing on the promise of aspirational talent in a working class community rather than the premise of material gain, Ferrer crafts a truly special crowd-pleaser perfect for the Academy’s International Feature competition.
Set in the city of Acarigua (about 200 miles from the capital of Caracas), the film follows the journey of two brothers, factory worker Leo (Carlos Manuel González) and bread shop baker Alex (Anyelo López). Their parents died when Alex was very young, leaving the elder Leo to abandon his burgeoning music career to become the sole provider for the family, struggling to make ends meet while his bosses berate him and his girlfriend Yolanda (Greisy Mena) emasculates him on a daily basis.
He endures all of this for the sake of the teenage Alex, who has dealt with being ostracized his entire life because he’s deaf. In spite of that handicap, however, Alex is an aspiring songwriter, composing through a combination of poetry and an adept ability to feel tonal differences through vibrations, not unlike Beethoven (one of the better aspects of the film’s presentation is witnessing Alex’s process despite the lack of sound).
After Leo intervenes in a gang shakedown of Alex’s shop, the younger brother proposes a solution to their ongoing money problems. There’s a talent show coming up in Caracas where the top prize is $10,000. Alex suggests that he write a song for Leo’s former band to reunite and perform. Leo is initially against the idea, dismissing it as a pipe dream, noting that people in the capital won’t even pay attention to the poor outside their city limits. However, when gang leader “Lucky” (David Olaves) goads Leo into singing (under threat of violence) for the first time in years, the spark returns, and he’s willing to give this a shot, if nothing else than to keep Alex from becoming as jaded to the world as he is.
Now, this is a plot device straight out of an 80s film or a sitcom. The nebulous contest that provides the exact amount of money to save some person, place, or thing has been done to death. But Ferrer understands this, and goes to great lengths to reassure the viewer that the cliché is merely a backdrop for the real story, about the perseverance of a downtrodden community, how they thrive when united in common purpose. That’s what shines through, to the point that the actual song Alex writes is basically immaterial.
The brothers forge the common path of making sure their voices are heard, though they go about them in different ways. Leo continues to scrimp and save — including a semi-silly side plot where Yolanda throws away his ratty outdoor couch… which just happens to have all of Leo’s savings stuffed in the cushions — while also getting his band back together. All of the others have moved on with their lives. His bassist (Pedro Alonso) is now a cab driver, his drummer (Richard Clark) an ordained priest, and his guitarist, having passed on, is replaced by his equally-talented daughter (Camila Curtis). How does he convince them to do the gig? By offering his handyman services in trade. He repairs vehicles and water pipes for his two former colleagues, and works with the younger Tita to fix up an old shack as a makeshift studio space. Again, the whole idea of coming together for a greater good pervades everything. This also fuels a creative passion in Leo that has been missing for some time. Looking like a mixture of Javier Bardem and Scott Stapp from Creed, González just oozes rock star charisma, and you buy every second of his shot at redemption.
Meanwhile, Alex’s journey towards acknowledgment is two-fold, with one aspect being much more overt than the other. On the surface, there’s the obvious literary irony of a deaf man writing music, giving voice to himself when he can barely talk (the few times he does vocalize carry a ton of weight). At the same time, he befriends a young man named Brayian (Jeizer Ruiz), a member of Lucky’s gang, and eventually their relationship borders on the romantic, despite the fact that Venezuelan society isn’t nearly as progressive or accepting of homosexuality as many other countries. When these two are together, not only do they make for a charming couple, but through each other, they perfectly demonstrate the overarching theme. Alex wants to be heard despite being unable to hear himself, while Brayian gets the chance to show a much more tender side despite having to run with a violent gang to survive the mean streets.
It all comes back to this idea of sharing burdens so that all may come out better for it on the other side, aided immensely by the fully committed performances, especially for the two leads. González is a seasoned actor, bringing years of experience to a character done hard by the real world, and he’s able to translate that into literal and figurative mentoring for Alex as a character and López as a performer, taking on his first ever acting role. And really, the young man delivers commendably. So much is conveyed through just his facial expressions and body language that the entire film could be silent and every single one of his motivations would get across perfectly, making sure we all root for Leo and Alex as the big competition approaches.
But again, that result basically doesn’t matter, because Ferrer understands that in the harsh realities of life, there are very rarely any magic deus ex machina wands that get us out of our collective troubles. What really counts is resilience in the face of adversity, and being true to yourself. As long as you can keep that in mind, you will find allies, you will help and be helped, and together we’ll move forward. In this way, the film serves as something of a perfect microcosm for the International Feature race. Venezuela has never been nominated for the award, and they’ve only ever been shortlisted once ( The Liberator, in 2014), so once again the odds are not in their favor. That said, this plucky little picture perfectly exemplifies the Academy ideal of film as a universal language, displaying themes and stories that may be a touch formulaic, but speak to experiences relatable to all of us, no matter where we live and watch, so maybe there’s a chance for it to pull the upset and get the worldwide attention it deserves. I’m certainly pulling for it.
Originally published at http://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on November 22, 2023.
