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- Jan 5, 2010
At the beginning of the film, Frankie Wilde is a wildly successful DJ on the party island of Ibiza. He has a recording contract, performs at high-profile nightclubs, and lives in a luxurious villa with his trophy wife, Sonya, and their son. In talking head sequences, contemporary DJs laud Frankie's turntable skills during this period. It is also evident that Frankie has cocaine and alcohol addictions (in hallucinations, his drug addiction is represented by a giant, menacing badger). His career is increasingly guided by egotistical, insensitive super-agent Max Haggar.
[h3][edit] Loss of hearing[/h3]
Frankie's loss of hearing is first apparent when he hears a high-pitched whine instead of an Arsenal football match on TV. At this time, Frankie is making his next album with his "two Austrian mates" Alfonse and Horst, who seem more suited for a rock band. Frankie continues working on his album and playing gigs at clubs, but his hearing degrades rapidly. As a result, progress on his album stagnates. However, Frankie refuses to acknowledge his problem until a gig in Amnesia, when he cannot hear the second channel in his headphones and must crossfade one song into the next without being able to beatmatch them. The result sounds terrible, and the crowd boos him. Overcome with fear and frustration, he throws the turntable and the mixer onto the dance floor, and is forcibly removed from the club.
The next day, Max confronts Frankie about the performance. Frankie agrees to see a doctor, who tells him he's lost hearing in one ear and has 20% left in the other. He warns Frankie that unless he stops abusing drugs and listening to loud noises, he will soon be completely deaf. Even the use of his hearing aid would only further degrade his hearing.
Then, during a recording session, Frankie confesses the full nature of his hearing loss to Alfonse. He inserts his hearing aid to demonstrate, and, overwhelmed by the sudden sound exposure, leans close to one of the monitor speakers. Before he can react, however, a frustrated Horst smashes a guitar into an amplifier whose volume Frankie has maximized. The noise is excruciating, and the feedback knocks Frankie unconscious. The damage leaves him permanently deaf.
Without his hearing, Frankie cannot complete his album. He loses his recording contract, and Max abandons him. Soon after, Sonya leaves him. The talking head sequences describe this period as his darkest hour, in which he shuts himself into his home, which he has "soundproofed" with pillows in a desperate bid to recover his hearing. His drug use intensifies, and he appears to be heavily depressed. In one scene, he repeatedly throws his body against the walls. In other, he wraps roman candles around his head, either an attempt at suicide or a drastic way to recover his hearing, but dives into the pool before they ignite.
[h3][edit] Recovery[/h3]
In a culmination moment of the movie, Frankie flushes all his drugs down a toilet, only to be faced with the vision of the menacing badger again. The two begin to scuffle, with Frankie eventually gaining the upper hand and beating the badger with a shovel, then grabbing a shotgun and shooting it, upon which the badger begins to bleed cocaine. Frankie then grabs the dying badger's head, and removes it, only to reveal that the badger is, in fact, himself. He then shoots the dying vision of himself in the head.
After this dark period, Frankie finds a deaf organization and meets Penelope, an instructor for the deaf who coaches him in lip-reading. They become close, and eventually intimate. He confides his unhappiness at losing music, and she helps him perceive sound through visual and tactile methods instead.
Frankie then manages to devise a system for mixing songs, in which he watches an oscilloscope trace while resting his feet on the pulsating speakers. Using this system, he heads to the studio and manages to produce new mix CD (Hear No Evil) entirely by himself. He delivers it to Max, who is wildly pleased - particularly by the potential of using Frankie's disability to increase record sales. He has Frankie take part in advertising and promotional deals which are increasingly offensive and insensitive to deaf people, which Penelope silently disapproves of. He also treats Penelope like he did Sonya; as Frankie's sexual object, not recognizing her substantial role in Frankie's life. In general, Max tends to patronizingly characterize the deaf as pained, helpless victims desperate for a deaf role model.
Max convinces Frankie to play live at Pacha as a career comeback. He thinks it is an opportunity for Frankie to prove himself to others, despite Frankie's insistence that he has nothing to prove to his critics. The gig goes exceedingly well, and many claim it showcases even greater talent than his early work. After the show, Frankie and Penelope disappear from Max, the media, and the music scene altogether. In a talking heads sequence, characters speculate on where he is now (if alive).
As the film ends, we see Frankie disguised as a homeless street musician, who is then met by Penelope and a child (presumably their own). They affectionately walk together down a street unrecognized. Additionally, we see Frankie teaching a group of deaf children how to perceive sound like he does
i don't know how to post videos...i clicked embed form youtube and this is what it gave me....
if you have the time and love the culture then i highly suggest viewing this film
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QY1qRo2NM8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
[h3][edit] Loss of hearing[/h3]
Frankie's loss of hearing is first apparent when he hears a high-pitched whine instead of an Arsenal football match on TV. At this time, Frankie is making his next album with his "two Austrian mates" Alfonse and Horst, who seem more suited for a rock band. Frankie continues working on his album and playing gigs at clubs, but his hearing degrades rapidly. As a result, progress on his album stagnates. However, Frankie refuses to acknowledge his problem until a gig in Amnesia, when he cannot hear the second channel in his headphones and must crossfade one song into the next without being able to beatmatch them. The result sounds terrible, and the crowd boos him. Overcome with fear and frustration, he throws the turntable and the mixer onto the dance floor, and is forcibly removed from the club.
The next day, Max confronts Frankie about the performance. Frankie agrees to see a doctor, who tells him he's lost hearing in one ear and has 20% left in the other. He warns Frankie that unless he stops abusing drugs and listening to loud noises, he will soon be completely deaf. Even the use of his hearing aid would only further degrade his hearing.
Then, during a recording session, Frankie confesses the full nature of his hearing loss to Alfonse. He inserts his hearing aid to demonstrate, and, overwhelmed by the sudden sound exposure, leans close to one of the monitor speakers. Before he can react, however, a frustrated Horst smashes a guitar into an amplifier whose volume Frankie has maximized. The noise is excruciating, and the feedback knocks Frankie unconscious. The damage leaves him permanently deaf.
Without his hearing, Frankie cannot complete his album. He loses his recording contract, and Max abandons him. Soon after, Sonya leaves him. The talking head sequences describe this period as his darkest hour, in which he shuts himself into his home, which he has "soundproofed" with pillows in a desperate bid to recover his hearing. His drug use intensifies, and he appears to be heavily depressed. In one scene, he repeatedly throws his body against the walls. In other, he wraps roman candles around his head, either an attempt at suicide or a drastic way to recover his hearing, but dives into the pool before they ignite.
[h3][edit] Recovery[/h3]
In a culmination moment of the movie, Frankie flushes all his drugs down a toilet, only to be faced with the vision of the menacing badger again. The two begin to scuffle, with Frankie eventually gaining the upper hand and beating the badger with a shovel, then grabbing a shotgun and shooting it, upon which the badger begins to bleed cocaine. Frankie then grabs the dying badger's head, and removes it, only to reveal that the badger is, in fact, himself. He then shoots the dying vision of himself in the head.
After this dark period, Frankie finds a deaf organization and meets Penelope, an instructor for the deaf who coaches him in lip-reading. They become close, and eventually intimate. He confides his unhappiness at losing music, and she helps him perceive sound through visual and tactile methods instead.
Frankie then manages to devise a system for mixing songs, in which he watches an oscilloscope trace while resting his feet on the pulsating speakers. Using this system, he heads to the studio and manages to produce new mix CD (Hear No Evil) entirely by himself. He delivers it to Max, who is wildly pleased - particularly by the potential of using Frankie's disability to increase record sales. He has Frankie take part in advertising and promotional deals which are increasingly offensive and insensitive to deaf people, which Penelope silently disapproves of. He also treats Penelope like he did Sonya; as Frankie's sexual object, not recognizing her substantial role in Frankie's life. In general, Max tends to patronizingly characterize the deaf as pained, helpless victims desperate for a deaf role model.
Max convinces Frankie to play live at Pacha as a career comeback. He thinks it is an opportunity for Frankie to prove himself to others, despite Frankie's insistence that he has nothing to prove to his critics. The gig goes exceedingly well, and many claim it showcases even greater talent than his early work. After the show, Frankie and Penelope disappear from Max, the media, and the music scene altogether. In a talking heads sequence, characters speculate on where he is now (if alive).
As the film ends, we see Frankie disguised as a homeless street musician, who is then met by Penelope and a child (presumably their own). They affectionately walk together down a street unrecognized. Additionally, we see Frankie teaching a group of deaf children how to perceive sound like he does
i don't know how to post videos...i clicked embed form youtube and this is what it gave me....
if you have the time and love the culture then i highly suggest viewing this film
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8QY1qRo2NM8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
