LOS ANGELES — Rudy Mancuso's “Música” offers a unique worldview in which, thanks to a rare condition called synesthesia, everyday noises like car horns, dripping water and slamming doors become a series of complex sounds. It becomes a rhythm.
“Música” depicts the struggle to keep music at bay while living in a close-knit Brazilian community in Newark, New Jersey. He soon finds himself caught in a love triangle and struggles to balance not only his cultural traditions, but also the women in his life and the music in his head.
“Música” is based on Mancuso's own coming-of-age story. Not only did he direct the film, he is also a co-writer. Movies mean everything to him. The film is a recreation of his experience and features some of the real people who were there during the experience. For example, Mancuso's biological mother plays her mother in the film.
“This was an opportunity to showcase and portray Brazilian-American culture on screen in a big way. It also explores synesthesia in its unique relationship with music. “There are two things I want to see,” he said.
Mancuso, who has synesthesia, and his co-star Camila Mendes have described the condition as a trip on the sensory wire, where one sensation association triggers another. Mendes likes to say that one can “taste Tuesday” or “smell pink.” There are several forms of synesthesia, but Mancuso's synesthesia is rhythmic association, which turns everyday sounds into rhythm.
“It's fundamentally a neurological condition. I didn't know I had it. Many synesthetes don't realize they have synaesthesia. It can be difficult to diagnose. Only you know what your perceptions are. I ended up doing a lot of research,” Mancuso said. “It's almost musical OCD, as I like to call it. My brain is compulsively trying to translate sounds into some kind of musical structure: rhythm, harmony, melody. “As we saw in the movie, it can be very intrusive and distracting at times. It can also be very challenging,” Mancuso said.
Mendes saw the film as an opportunity to shed light not only on Brazilian culture, but also on the Brazilian-American culture that felt most authentic to her.
Mendes says that in “Música,” the expressions come together in a very unique and subtle way that allows him to relate to Mancuso's own story.
“I really connected with this story,” she said. “For us to tell this story is a step in the right direction to provide representation and provide more representation, not just for me, but for other Brazilians or Brazilian Americans in the industry. I’m already thinking of ways I can continue.”
“Música” is available now on Prime Video.
Click the arrow above to watch Rudy Mancuso and Camila Mendes' full interview.