True Stories 55: 20s—CODA

Some of the most effective true stories are often ones that focus on just a small portion of a person’s life. And choosing one incident, or one choice a person makes, is often a good way to make sure you don't try to cram too much of a life into your film.

After all, you only have about two hours to tell this story, so think about how much ground you can cover in that time. Focusing on a pivotal moment can be the way to make sure you have time to tell your story with the kind of depth needed.

Last week we looked at how Belfast did that by focusing on a boy’s story when he was 9 years old. This week we’ll look at a film that focuses on a teenage girl’s life-altering decision in CODA [2021], by Sian Heder. The film was based on a French film written by Victoria Bedos, Stanislas Carré de Malberg, Èric Lartigau, and Thomas Bidegain.

“CODA” is an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults—and that’s the description of Ruby. Both her parents and her brother are deaf. She’s the youngest in the family and the only one who can hear—so she becomes the family’s translator. This hasn’t been too much of a problem for her until recently… until she discovered music.

Music is something she can’t share with her family, as - of course - they can’t hear music. So as she falls more and more in love with music, she begins to feel guilty that she has access to this wonderful outlet and they don’t.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pmfrE1YL4I

You can see from the trailer that her decision to leave and go to college would kind of strap the family business. In the course of the film a court case is brought against the family because they didn’t respond properly to the Coast Guard - they couldn't hear them because Ruby, who was normally their one pair of working ears, wasn't on board that day. The Coast Guard rules that their family business will only be allowed to continue to operate if they always have a hearing crew member on board. Obviously, if Ruby leaves and goes to college, they will be unable to comply.

In many ways this film seems overly simple. And it would have been very easy for this film to become a bit of a cliché, and a bit too syrupy… What stopped it from succumbing to either of those problems? For me, it was the characters. They were unique and very much NOT clichés. They were quirky but at the same time real. And most of all, they were multi-dimensional—not just the angry brother or the overbearing mom or the clueless dad—they were believable and compelling as individuals.

So if your true story is a simple one, CODA is a good film to study for its wonderful job at creating full, rounded, believable—but not predictable—characters.

Next week let’s go to The House of Gucci for a completely different kind of family.

Copyright © Diane Lake

02Jul23

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com