The rhythms of life abound in director/writer/star Rudy Mancuso’s debut feature film, Música, a charming little piece about finding love and searching for one’s role in the play of life. In this fantastically imaginative piece, Mancuso stars, directs, co-writes (with Danny Lagana), choreographs, and composes the score.
In his real life, the director suffers from a neurological condition called “synesthesia” that causes his mind to create rhythms with normal everyday sounds. The director uses this to great effect, as experiencing the constant musicality through the main character gives Música a unique cinematic language.
Shooting in and around the New Jersey neighborhoods of his childhood and based on events in his life, Mancuso stars as “Rudy”, a young man who finds himself socially and morally discombobulated after his breakup with longtime girlfriend Haley (Francesca Reale). Rudy lives with his mother (Mancuso’s real-life madre, Maria Mancuso). Momma loves her baby boy and just wants him to find a nice Brazilian woman and settle down, having never warmed to his Caucasian ex.
Immediately after Rudy meets the enchanting Brazilian-American free spirit, Isabella (a naturally charming Camilla Mendes), Haley realizes she misses him and comes back into his life, complicating things even further. Not wanting to deal with anything negative, he begins seeing both women at the same time.
Working hard to sidestep a career in marketing, Rudy performs a puppet show in one of the local subway stations, but struggles to make it into a sustainable career. Rudy’s food truck-owning best friend Anwar (J.B. Smoove, always the welcome scene stealer) placates him with useless advice, but exists as a sweet and attentive shoulder who is always there for his buddy. Their relationship has a genuine lived-in feel and both actors create an infectious chemistry.
On all levels, Música works surprisingly well. Mancuso and Lagana’s script is full of ideas, offering up something fresh in today’s bland cinematic landscape. Creating a fantastical environment with cinematographer Shane Hurlbut, Mancuso morphs the film into a rather intoxicating musical, but one without songs. Based on the lead character’s condition, the frame comes alive with background actors dancing interpretations of the rhythms in Rudy’s head. Each moment is inventive and alive and scored to lively Brazilian compositions, adding even more dazzle to the film.
Mancuso shows talent as a filmmaker, designing each scene with a smart and focused creativity. The director captures the attraction between Rudy and Isabella through patient means, softly unspooling their relationship by focusing on the quieter moments. The camera steals the slight touches and loving glances between the two, playing cinematic Cupid for the two characters.
In contrast, the relationship between Rudy and Haley is more produced. As their coupling isn’t something he can make a reality, Mancuso crafts some of their moments as if they were on a soundstage in an old MGM musical. A dinner scene with Haley’s casually racist rich parents is filmed with a pale pallet and has an almost surrealistic feel. The walls, tablecloths, and the clothes on the family are all white. The only color in the room is found in Rudy and the family’s maid creating a potent and almost Buñuel-esque visual statement.
At his most inventive, Mancuso creates an absolutely dazzling sequence that portrays Rudy’s anxiety with trying to juggle two women at the same time. In an “unbroken take”, the character moves amongst a revolving set that takes the audience through his love triangle, as the scene rivals an equally imaginative confused lover moment from Spike Lee’s Mo Better Blues.
These days, it is a rare pleasure to experience a film so alive with ideas. Rudy Mancuso announces himself as a big talent and proves it scene by scene. Música is an innovative and delightful film that will have audiences floating along to its intoxicating rhythms.
Música
Written by Danny lagana & Rudy Mancuso
Directed by Rudy Mancuso
Starring Rudy Mancuso, Camilla Mendes, Francesca Reale, Maria Mancuso, J.B. Smoove
PG-13, 91 Minutes, Amazon MGM Studios
