'Sound Of Metal' director Darius Marder: Hard to make things in Hollywood

It took over a decade for filmmaker Darius Marder to make his feature directorial debut, through the highly acclaimed, Sound Of Metal. Marder feels it took so long because it is extremely difficult to make things in the United States.

He also revealed that he struggled finding financers for the film despite having the critically acclaimed film, The Place Beyond The Pines, in his resume. He co-wrote the film, and it features Hollywood biggies Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Mahershala Ali.

"If you make a film to be liked, you are probably going to make a bad film," Marder told IANS over a Zoom call while discussing his thought process of making a film.

"I was never interested in making a film to be liked. I was interested in making a great film. That was incredibly important to me. I was interested in making a great film to me, you never really know how the rest of the world will see it. I would be very surprised if anybody tells you that they were making a film that they didn't expect to get nominated or loved," added the filmmaker.

He continued: "Of course, you are making a film that you want people to connect with. I was really looking to do something that I felt could be new in cinema, that I felt could break ground. I wanted to create something that had an ability to shift our consciousnesses a bit. I had a very high bar for what I wanted to do in this movie. I don't know if it was about awards, but it is really rewarding to see people connecting with the movie. That is rewarding for me."

Sound Of Metal narrates the story of a drummer and former heroin addict Ruben Stone (Riz Ahmed) coping up with his deteriorating hearing, which emerges as a threat to his music career. The film shows his attempts to cope with the loss, time spent getting to know the realities of the community and his attempt to reclaim his life.

Marder's effort has garnered an early Oscar buzz, with many predicting an Academy nomination for Riz Ahmed in the leading role.

Now, Marder hopes to do "more work that's rewarding".

"I just want to do more work that is rewarding. I think that's the greatest gift you can have. This took me a long time to make because in America, it is hard to make things. You don't get any help. There are no funds and there is no government that is helping you do anything. I really feel for all those disenfranchised people who want to make films, because it's tough," he asserted.

Elaborating his point, the director shared: "Even after I wrote ‘The Place Beyond the Pines', nobody would finance this movie. So it's hard, you have to really believe in what you are doing. So I'm just thrilled, after all this, for it to be seen, I'm also really happy for more than anything for these actors because they put their faith in me."

Also Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff and Mathieu Almar, Sound Of Metal is available on Amazon Prime Video in India.

(Sugandha Rawal can be contacted at sugandha.r@ians.in)

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