Itay Tal – God of the Piano #IFFR2019

PODCAST| Matt Micucci interviews Itay Tal, director of the film God of the Piano.

An interview with director Itay Tal, whose film God of the Piano has its world premiere in the Voices strand of the 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam. The film talks about a woman who programs her son to become the concert pianist she could, somehow, never become. In our chat, we discuss this theme but also the similarities Tal found between the world of classical music and the world of film. We also talk about the origins of creativity, whether it is generic or perhaps something else – something spiritual. Among the other topics discussed are his relationship with his actors, and we particularly focus on that with his lead actress Naama Preis, whose restrained performance counters, for example, the emotional Anna Magnani role in the similarly themes Luchino Visconti’s film, Bellissima.

God of the Piano: Concert pianist Anat’s waters break while she is playing. Devastatingly, her son proves deaf. The “Baby Mozart” CD her father gives her can go straight in the bin. However, Anat’s will to raise a piano genius who would befit her respected musical family only becomes stronger, and she takes drastic measures to make this happen. Composed as a moral parable with a touch of thriller, God of the Piano tells the story of a mother – played with great reserve by Naama Preis – whose obsessive behaviour and mile-high expectations threaten to crush her child, just as she was once crushed. While focusing on mother-son relations, the film also explores the uncertain nature of prodigy. Is talent inherited? Is there a secret tension or even an interplay between giftedness and averageness? And – most importantly – what price does a person, be it adult or child, pay for being labelled a genius?