CODA on Apple TV +: what does the title of the remake of La Famille Bélier mean?

As soon as it was presented at the Sundance Festival in January 2021, Sian Heder’s CODA had won over the crowds. With no less than 4 awards – including the Grand Jury Prize – and carried by a laudatory reception, the film was bought at a record price by the Apple platform. The story follows Rubby Rossi, a student passionate about music from a fishing family. Between her parents and her brother, she is also the only one not to be deaf. When the family business finds itself in danger, the young woman faces a dilemma: follow her dream or stay close to her own.

American adaptation of Eric Lartigau’s La Famille Bélier – which had collected more than 7 million tickets when it was released in 2014 -, CODA has several differences with the French film. One of them concerns the title, which is more obscure than the original. Behind the term CODA there are two meanings: the first relates to the final part of a piece of music – referring to the passion of the heroine Ruby. The word is often illustrated with a sign of a cross surrounded by a circle.

CODA is also the acronym for Child of Deaf Adults – a hearing child born to deaf parents in French. As in Sian Heder’s feature film, most CODAs grow up with the ability to understand spoken language and sign language passed down from their parents.