Sound of Noise

Bucking the current vogue for dark Scandinavian fiction, Ola Simonsson's Sound of Noise tells a different sort of Swedish cop story, one marked by comedic absurdism. Born into a classical music conductor's famous family, Amadeus Warnebring (Bengt Nilsson) turned out to be a major-key disappointment, tone-deaf and antagonistic towards most things musical, becoming a police inspector instead. His two worlds overlap when the city is terrorized by the "Six Drummers," an underground conspiracy of mad musicians who stage illegal and potentially dangerous performance-happenings. Despite the skepticism of his superiors, Amadeus tries to use his dysfunctional background and insider knowledge to predict where the sonic outlaws will strike next. Imagine a slick, cat-and-mouse thriller in which conservatories, concert halls, metronomes, and drumsticks have replaced the usual mean streets, fiendish clues, and nefarious capers of the genre, and you have some idea of the film's intelligent, non-formulaic loopiness. And the Six Drummers' guerilla performances—part Stomp, part Blue Man Group—boast a great beat that you can dance to (although a closing credit cautions viewers not to try any of them at home). Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the production segments “Making Doctor, Doctor” (24 min.) and “Drum Battle: Preparing for the Challenge” (6 min.), the short films “Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers” (10 min.) and “Music for One X-Mas and Six Drummers” (5 min.), the performance clips “Water Analysis (Part III)” (5 min.) and “Soundcard Stockholm,” a photo montage (5 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a winning thriller.] (C. Cassady)