CODA (Special Exclusive Series review)

Initial release date: August 13, 2021 (Apple TV+)

Studios: Apple TV/ Vendome Pictures/ Pathe Films

Tagline: Every family has its own language.

Plot: Seventeen year old Ruby is the sole hearing member of a deaf family - a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother. But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles. Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough love choirmaster to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.

Cast

Emilia Jones (Netflix’s Locke and Key) - Ruby Rossi

Troy Kotsur - Frank Rossi

Daniel Durant (TVs Switched at Birth) - Leo Rossi

John Fiore (Chappaquiddick; Patriot’s Day) - Tony Salgado

Lonnie Farmer - Monty

Kevin Chapman (City of Lies; Slender Man) - Brady

Amy Forsyth (Hell Fest; Netflix’s We Summon the Darkness) - Gertie

Courtland Jones - Ms. Simon

Molly Beth Thomas - Audra

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo - Miles

Marlee Marin - Jackie Rossi

Eugenio Derbez (Dora and the Lost City of Gold) - Bernardo Villalobos

Writer/director: Sian Heder (Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black)

Rated PG-13 for strong sexual content and language, and drug use (111 minutes)

‘CODA’ is a beautiful, moving film that is an absolute must-see. There are quite a few moments, especially towards the end, that will have you shed a tear or two. This is definitely a feature film that will leave you incredibly moved and talking about it after the film ends.

In between the emotional moments, ‘CODA’ will also have you laughing in quite a few scenes. The main actors have amazing chemistry together and they really do seem like a real family. And Eugenio Derbez gives a scene-stealing and also charismatic performance as Ruby’s choirmaster, who sees that Ruby has what it takes to get to a prestigious music school.

So, make sure to check out this amazingly beautiful film. ‘CODA’ definitely did deserve the Best Picture Oscar win and the other Oscar wins (including Best Supporting Actor for Kotsur). There is still a couple days left to see this film on the big screen and is also on the Apple TV+ streaming platform.

Here are quite a few interesting tidbits for ‘CODA’:

• Emilia Jones spent nine months learning American Sign Language, having singing lessons and learning how to operate a fishing trawler.

• Because the fishing scenes involve real fishing, the cast and crew had to abide by local fishing rules. One day they actually had to bring an observer with them (life imitating art from the movie) and they had to move one of the crew members from the boat set since they could only have a maximum of ten people on the boat.

• The on-set interpreters were all CODAs.

• In addition to standing for Child of Death Adults, “coda” can also mean a concluding passage of music in a composition. The coda symbol is clearly visible on the page of music symbols Mr. Villalobas is teaching Ruby during a montage scene.

• The movie is based on a 2014 French Film. ‘The Beliar Family.’ However, when the movie was released, it was controversial in the deaf community because two of the main deaf characters were played by hearing actors, with the exception of Luca Gelberg, who is deaf in real life. This has been rectified in CODA; all of the deaf members of the Rossi family are played by actors who are also deaf in their real lives (Marlee Martin, Troy Kotsur and Daniel Durant).

• After CODA was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, Apple bought its distribution rights for $25 million, a record at the time (2021).

• Troy Kotsur is the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar. His wife in the movie (Marlee Martin) was the first deaf female actress to win an Oscar at the 59th Oscars 35 years ago (1987), for ‘Children of a Lesser God.’

• The first film distributed primarily by a streaming service (Apple TV+) to win the Best Picture Oscar.

• Philippe Rousselet was one of the original film’s producers, and he had the rights to do a remake. He and producer Patrick Wachsberger approached Heder to direct a remake for US audiences.

• By May 2019, the companies Pathe Films and Vendome Group had formed a film production partnership to develop and produce English-language films, with the first being ‘CODA.’

• The film was shot on location in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the middle of 2019.

• At Sundance, ‘CODA’ won the US Grand Jury Prize, US Dramatic Audience Award, and a Special Jury Ensemble Cast Award. The film’s director Sian Heder won Best Director in the US Dramatic section.

• The film was released in theaters and Apple TV+ in selected countries on August 3, 2021. By March 20, 2022, the film had been streamed in 973,000 households in the US, including 375,000 since the Oscar nominations were announced February 8. In the three days following its Best Picture win, the film saw a 300% increase in views from the previous weekend and was the most-streamed program on the streaming platform.

• According to Kotsur, the film was initially rated R “for language,” as displayed in subtitles during the deaf characters’ dialogue in some scenes, but after several “back and forths” and fights with the MPA, it was ultimately reduced to a PG-13.