Romancey Pants

Duck: Friends, if you’re wondering whether to watch a duck of a great movie called Música, the answer’s “Duck, yes!”

Star: In Música, which is set in Newark, New Jersey, Rudy Mancuso (played by himself) is a Brazilian student and puppeteer with synesthesia. For Rudy, this means a lot of the noises he hears become rhythms, music—and each rhythmic element (the sound of a tapping foot or coffee maker or revving car) becomes part of a vibrant piece of rhythmic music inside him.

“To you, you may hear footsteps of someone going up the stairs, or a construction worker banging on a hammer,” says Mancuso in this fascinating interview at Flaunt, “[but] my mind immediately tries to identify the rhythm. And if it’s identifiable, interpret it into some kind of musical rhythm.”

In the semi-autobiographical film, which Mancuso wrote and directed, we get to see how this can be distracting and/or compelling for Rudy.

Duck: If only we had more cinema like this! I was beak-to-flippers agog at the originality of this movie. It transported me out of my pond-side armchair into a vivid, powerful, neurodiverse world. I couldn’t get enough of it. For a duck like me, entering Rudy’s compelling reality was like being a duckling who’s only known one pond and is suddenly seeing through the eyes of a toucan. The vibrancy! The music! The carnival of the senses! The absolute respect for the empowerment of quacking!

Star: Hmm. That last bit about quacking is NOT part of the film.

Duck: Okay, true. Now, while Música is a cornucopia of sounds, music, dance, and delight, for Rudy, his world is also unavoidably distracting. Of course, if I was trying to give a pond meeting to a group of geese who were in the middle of a tap-dancing routine—a real Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers number, complete with sparky top hats—I’d be distracted too. Then again, I would also be rapt.

Star: That’s one of the beautiful things about this movie. While Rudy’s experience of synesthesia feels challenging and often frustrating in his day-to-day life, there is also a great appreciation in this film for his rich experience and powerful talent. Duck and I felt sorry for him, yes, but we also felt in awe of his brilliance. As we watched Música, Rudy’s experience felt exciting and profound—it enriched our lives just to see the world through his ears, his eyes. As far as we can see it, it’s the neurotypical world that makes Rudy’s differences challenging. His love of puppetry is also part of the rich life he inhabits and creates, and must learn to live intentionally for and from himself.

Duck: Oh PUPPETS! Let’s talk about the super-ducking awesome hilarious and profound PLUSH PUPPETS! To take a sideways flipper-step for a second, I’m a plush duck with a neurodiverse human (that’s Star), so I’m a support duck, a happiness duck, a “do things your way” duck! So, in Musica, it’s super-ducking awesome to see Rudy get so much companionship and FUN from his puppet Diego, who also helps him to process life. And it’s through Diego that Rudy’s career takes off.

Frankly, I’d like to buy that puppet some pondweed champagne.

Star: I’m very grateful to Rudy Mancuso for including his puppet Diego in the film. It isn’t easy to say to the world, “Here’s this persona (or duck) who is real for me. He helps me in my life, and that’s FUN and SAFE for me, and LOVING, and IMPORTANT.” I know because very few non-plushie people understand this about Duck in my life, but those who do are special to me. But I feel that Mancuso shows us this by including Diego in Música and making him important to Rudy—including for his career.

Duck: I ducking agree! And my flippers tingled every time I saw Diego. He’s super-funny and also very real, and I felt reflected by him. It was like seeing a duck, only better!

Star: And what did you think of the performances, Duck? And the choreography?

Duck: This is a super-ducking stellar cast, Star! Rudy Mancuso and Camila Mendes (who plays love interest Isabella) were electrifying, including when they’re together on the screen. Both of them have such range in their acting. There’s real feeling and vibrancy in their performances, and their chemistry sizzled more than my flippers on a hot tin roof.

Maria Mancuso was beak-to-flippers sparkling as Rudy’s mom Maria—she’s also his mom in real life. And Francesca Reale did a great job as the controlling girlfriend Rudy can’t quite ditch. Also, let’s not forget the CAPTIVATING and at times HILARIOUS J.B. Smoove as Anwar, Rudy’s pal.

That’s before we’ve even gotten onto the entire cast of dancers and musicians who ROCKED MY BEAK OFF!!!

Star: And yes, the love story is a little simplistic, at times. I’d have given my tail-feather for a little more exploration of why it was challenging for Rudy to establish his boundaries in certain relationships. But we do understand that there was A LOT to tackle in Música, and I wouldn’t want to lose ANYTHING ELSE from the screenplay. So what we’re saying is … PLEASE MAKE THIS A SERIES, AMAZON PRIME!!!!

Duck: Duck, yes! My beak-holes would be glued to the screen!

As for diversity ducks, we’re giving this one A FULL FIVE. While we’d have loved to see some out LGBTQIA+ characters in here, the neurodiversity and racial diversity were super-ducking exquisite and merit FULL MARKS!

Star: Phew! That was a long one, Duck!

Duck: A long one? Did I make … a gassy smell? That must be the spicy frogspawn balls I ate this morning.

Star: No, sweetie! What I meant was … you made a THOUGHTFUL REVIEW!!!

Duck: Fan-ducking-tastic! That deserves a goldfish fritter. Off I go to locate the pondweed dip ….

At the time of writing, you can watch Música on Amazon Prime.

Featured image designed by Star Tavares, using the movie poster courtesy of Amazon Prime.