Following a documentary sound engineer slowly unravel while
working on an Italian giallo film
should be interesting. Guilderoy (Toby Jones) is hired by a mysterious set of
filmmakers to mix the sound elements of their latest movie. As the scenes he edits get more strange
so does the experience, leading Guilderoy to believe that he's in the movie
itself through a series of incoherent but visually compelling scare sequences. Berberian Sound Studio wastes a unique and inherently creepy
concept by bogging itself down in unclear symbolism and a slow burn, tension-free
build to a wacky ending that makes no sense.
The technical achievements of the film are incredible,
featuring some of best natural lighting in recent memory. It accents the lurching dread that
Guilderoy experiences as the movie drags on. Obviously being a movie about sound, the sound design is
amazing, adding to the overall atmosphere of the film. As the movie spirals into insanity, the
music and sound design follows suit, leading the viewer on the same
incomprehensible odyssey as Guilderoy.
Unfortunately we can't focus solely on the technical achievements of the
film. The story matters, and here
it's simply nonexistent.
Toby Jones does his best in portraying a man going through
hell while making the movie, but since it's never clear what is actually going
on, the audience is more or less along for a ride with no clear end. The clearest conflict ends up being a
minor cash reimbursement dispute that's funny but mostly inconsequential. Speaking of humor, the film is quite
funny in places, often using the silliness of the giallo film within the bigger film as the butt of jokes. Berberian
Sound Studio is technically ambitious
with an incomprehensible mess of a story that will test the patience of its
audience.
