This year the Oscar for best film was awarded to CODA, a beautiful story about the life of a young woman Ruby, who lives with her family, who are deaf.
CODA stands for Children of Deaf Adults.
Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones) works with her family on a fishing boat every morning before heading to school. Father, Frank Rossi (Troy Kotsur) and brother, Leo Rossi (Daniel Durant) are both deaf and rely on Ruby to help with the negations of the fishing haul once it is brought to shore every day.
Ruby is a young girl dying to make a life for herself and move away from the family business to pursue her dream and try to make it as a singer. As she is the only person in the family who isn’t deaf she really feels the pressure to stay with her parents and brother and help care for them in their small country town.
CODA is a coming-of-age story about a young woman who through choir practice meets a young man, falls in love and he helps her chase her dream to go study singing at college.
Directed by Sian Heder, this is a touching film that delves into family bond and the commitment a younger child has towards her parents and brother, as she feels the pressure that she cannot leave them and go chase her own dreams, when the reality is that her family want her to be happy and live the life that she wants. It is a story about overcoming your own fears.
Written by Sian Heder, the story is quite remarkable as it examines the pressure and obligation a young person feels when helping her parents. The guilt that she holds when wishing to go to college and study, when it means she will have to leave her family behind, which leaves her torn. A young woman eager to explore life, but also petrified with what may come. Also like every teenager there is angst and anxiety around growing up and trying to figure out where you fit into the world around you. It is a film that explores a very interesting family dynamic.
Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi is outstanding. She captures what it is like to be a teenager and eager to enjoy life but also the ongoing frustrations every teen experiences living with their family. Emilia Jones is perfect in this performance.
Special mention needs to be given to Troy Kotsur who plays the Ruby’s father, Frank Rossi. Troy Kotsur received the Oscar for best supporting male actor and it is a truly hysterical performance. He portrays the father perfectly with an abundance of Dad jokes and the sensitivity of a father who only wants the best for his younger daughter.
CODA is a film that will leave you all warm and fuzzy. As it is a lighthearted, beautifully made picture that shows the life of Ruby Rossi as she explores the world and slowly understands how to break away from her family to chase her dreams.
CODA is currently available to stream on Apple +
