The Sound of Silence is a very peculiar movie. It follows the story of Peter Lucian [played by the exceptional Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead (2005), An Education (2009))] who has a rather strange profession: he is hired by people to go into their houses and identify noises that make them anxious or irritated or not allowing them to sleep. That's how he gets to meet Ellen [Rashida Jones from Parks and Recreation (2009-2015)].
Ellen has rather recently -although it is not refered to specifically in the film- been divorced or broken up with and is now living alone in an apartment whch she and her former partner had decorated together. Ellen cannot sleep and she calls Peter to look into her problem. Peter, a music theorist in fact, finds a quite unexpected solution to her problem but, even though he seems confident that he has done his job, Ellen soon realises that her sleeping troubles have not yet ended, so the two people meet again.
We quickly understand that Peter has become enamored with Ellen and sees his failure to fix her problem as a metaphor for his own personal failure to prove his thesis to academics. He actually has a rather far-fetched theory about sounds that exist all around New York and depending on the area you are, your work or your mood might be affected by those sounds. Ellen literally calls him out on it and this creates a whole series of self-questioning for Peter who soon realises that not everybody takes him as seriously as he takes himself and starts to wonder about his choices on both his personal and working life.
The Sound of Silence is -not surprisingly- a quite silent movie. It depends on discreet movements and quiet acting by all those involved. It has, however, a very charismatic soundtrack written by Will Bates. Nevertheless, it has the misfortune of lacking a third act. It may follow our protagonists though better and worse but it does not actually lead to a very satisfying catharsis or even a clear end. In contrast, it finishes abruptly letting the audience contemplate on what happened and how the heroes have (or have not) evolved through the story.
The saving force of the film, however, is the fantastic performance delivered by Peter Sarsgaard whose tactful and reserved execution breathes life into this quiet and unsocial character, making us identify and sympathise with him, besides his quirkiness.
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