One of the best films I saw at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival wasSound of Metal. The film is the feature directorial debut ofDarius Marder(co-writer ofDerek Cianfrance’sThe Place Beyond the Pines) and it’s clear he’s a real talent that needs to be making more movies.Riz Ahmedstars as a heavy-metal drummer that starts to lose his hearing while on tour with his bandmate and girlfriend (Olivia Cooke). As we follow Riz’s character trying to deal with this huge life change while also trying not to fall back into his old addict ways, the film brilliantly explores the experience and the culture of people that are deaf without sentimentality. In addition, Darius uses closed captioning in a way I’ve never seen in a film and Riz Ahmed has never been better. Once you see the movie, it makes total sense why Amazon Studios bought the film at TIFF.Sound of Metalalso starsMathieu Amalric,Lauren Ridloff, andPaul Raci. For more on the film you canread Matt Goldberg’s glowing review.
Shortly after seeing the film I sat down with Riz Ahmed and Darius Marder at the Collider studio at TIFF. They shared some great stories about making the film, how Ahmed trained for eight months for the role, how they shot on film and in chronological order and what that meant for the production, why Marder didn’t allow playback on set, the longer cut of the film, the last thing removed from the film before they picture locked, how Ahmed was wearing these special implants which gave off white noise preventing him from hearing, and much more. In addition, Marder gives an update on the western he’s writing with Derek Cianfrance calledEmpire of the Summer Moon.
Check out what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Riz Ahmed and Darius Marder:
