Música
Films like “Música,” where the star is basically involved in the majority of the major areas of production, can be very dicey, self-indulgent propositions. Imagine my surprise, then, watching Rudy Mancuso’s light, engaging film and being enamored with it on every level. Best known as a musician and an actor, he also adds writing and directing to his arsenal in “Música,” and it’s the sort of emotionally-grounded rom-com that connects strongest with me.
Mancuso’s screenplay with Dan Lagana is lifted from autobiography, as his character, Rudy, is struggling to juggle school, his passion, his mother, his relationships, and an unusual ability to hear the music in everyday life. The film begins with his long-time girlfriend, Haley (Francesca Reale), breaking up with him for feeling distant, and progresses with him feeling pressure from his mother (played by Rudy’s own mother, Maria, in a lovely performance) to find a Brazilian woman to be with. When he goes into a local fish store, he’s struck by the beauty of Isabella (Camila Mendes)- as well as a fish- and things start to change.
One of the things that make this an unusual film about a musician is that a lot of the music comes from his environments, and his internal processing of his environments. He does create music in the film- he’s doing a puppet show in the subway in much of the movie- but a lot of what we hear are how Rudy interprets sounds happening around him. This is a unique way of presenting creative inspiration in a film, and it’s one of the aspects of “Música” I love the most. The world stops for everyone but Rudy, but this isn’t necessarily a good thing for him. In a way, it represents the anxiety Rudy is feeling in his life. The only thing that seems to calm it is Isabella; that has to mean something.
Like a lot of romantic comedies and coming-of-age films, there isn’t much in “Música” that is reinventing the wheel of the genres. What distinguishes it are the personal touches in the filmmaking, and especially how music is utilized, that makes it special, and more than just a standard narrative. The performances are all very good, but the way Mancuso has brought his anxieties about life, love and art to life is where this film achieves a different level of storytelling pleasure. It’s not often I can say that about a romantic comedy these days; this one earns such praise.
