Absolutely Fantastic

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Toby Jones' sound man travels to Italy to work on a horror film, and slowly becomes overwhelmed by his experiences.Unfortunately this does not happen to the viewer. Marketed as a horror film, this is a film without shocks or barely any suspense. It tries to ape David Lynch in its narrative obscurity, but never gets anywhere. In the end it's just another UK failure funded by National Lottery money that might have been better spent somewhere else.Toby Jones is pretty good, and the sound design is very well done. Along the way we get lots of shots of rotting vegetables (used in creating the sound effects for hair being ripped out and heads being diced) Daddy Long Legs crawling, Jones' failed attempts to be recompensed for his flight fare, people screaming while dubbing the film, bitchiness, etc. The first 30 minutes or so are actually quite absorbing.But what is the point? The film seems confused about what it is meant to be. And after watching some other very poor British movies recently like Under The Skin and Bronson, which also sink in their own pretentiousness, the UK film industry seems similarly sunk.Can we get back to making films people actually want to see?

Sound effects technician Gilderoy travels to Italy to work on what appears to be a horror film. Revered producer Giancarlo Santini (Antonio Mancino) waves a dismissive hand at the term: "It isn't a horror film, it is a Santini film." Although the credit titles to this unspecified film actually form what appear to be the titles to 'Berberian Sound Studio', we never really know how the lurid sound effects are used.There are plenty of close-ups on ravaged vegetables, cut, splattered and sliced to emulate brutal sounds. Toby Jones' sensitive and insular Gilderoy is subject to increasing rudeness as the film progresses, from just about everyone around him. He speaks softly. He writes and received affectionate letters to his mother back home.Silvia (the terrific Fatma Mohamed) warns Gilderoy about Santini, who has apparently molested her. His missives to his mother become less affectionate, the body of the text concentrating on local mishaps and animal killings rather than loving pleasantries. Strangest of all, relentlessly seeking a ticket refund for his flight to Italy from disinterested staff, Gilderoy is told that the flight never really existed.Music (and some of the sonic effects, I imagine) is by Birmingham band Broadcast, who have added the soundtrack to this stylised film to their growing discography. Vocalist Trish Keenan sadly died suddenly whilst working on the album.Towards the end, the film seems to wilfully impenetrable, projecting weirdness for the sake of it - possibly echoing Gilderoy's addled mind, who knows? And to be honest, who cares? 'Berberian Sound Studio' starts off in an unorthodox way, which is promising, and seems to be going in an assured direction – but just ends up getting more strange, promising to deliver something, but never actually doing so. Only the relentless bullying of Jones' well-played character makes any real impact, because he is (mostly) so impassive and the perpetrators of such ill-manners are so complacent in their behaviour. Other than that, as Gilderoy becomes more integrated in what is going on around him, we lose any connection with him. And then the film ends, leaving the audience wondering what they have just watched, despite the obvious talent on display.

The 1970s: Gilderoy (Toby Jones), a meek English sound mixer, travels to Italy to work on an 'equestrian' film (as it is described to him) which turns out to be a shockingly violent horror movie. At first, studio engineer Francesco (Cosimo Fusco) is pleased to see Gilderoy, but as they proceed to work on the film together, Francesco's nature begins to change, and he becomes rude and intimidating. With constant exposure to the horrific images on-screen, and an increasingly unfriendly co-worker to contend with, the pressure starts to get to Gilderoy…As a big fan of Italian horror and an avid supporter of home-grown movies, I really wanted to like Berberian Sound Studio, a UK production that centres around the making of a splattery supernatural giallo. The dark, claustrophobic setting (the whole film takes place within the confines of the studio) and the nature of the film on which Gilderoy is working on make for some moody moments, but the soporific pacing, lack of scares, and completely baffling pay-off (there are several attempts at explaining matters on the film's IMDb message board, none of them very convincing) go to make the movie an excruciating test of endurance.I was equal parts bored and confused by this dismally dull and possibly pretentious snooze-fest (I watched the film over the course of three nights because I kept falling asleep) and am at a complete loss to see how this has gleaned so many positive reviews (IMDb current rating: 6.2/10).My rating: 1/10

(37%) This really, really is not a movie for casual film fans, so anyone expecting the simplicity of a slasher flick, or the fun of a horror comedy should give this a wide birth. This is for fans of a certain type of Italian horror with the main focus on sound mixing and creation in a rather bleak looking sound studio. After about 20 minutes it becomes clear that this isn't going to be a plot heavy movie as Toby Jones (the best aspect of the movie) records effects, mixes effects etc while the whole time something is never quite right. The movie is not really fun to watch, or really that rewarding, but a certain audience will find at least something to enjoy here, while everyone else should stay away.