Tuner is the evocative and provocative narrative feature debut of Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (Navalny).
I sat down with Roher, who shared what inspired him to write an action-heist romance about a piano tuner (played by Leo Woodhall):
For Roher, the profession is all about:
“Entropy and atrophy and physics and humidity and the forces of the universe that want to pull a piano out of tune. And it's his job to restore order where the natural cadence is chaos.”
He continued:
“And he exists as this ethereal bridge between the engineering of this instrument, which is 400 years old, 300 years old, and the art and the musician. And without this guy and his technical expertise, there is no music.”
Woodhall is a bit of a dead-end piano tuner whose kryptonite is extreme sensitivity to loud sounds, making it difficult for him to work in NYC.
Roher shared:
“What happens if the thing that you are most passionate about in the world that makes you you goes away and you can’t do it anymore? You know, I’m a filmmaker. What happens if I can’t make films?”
He continued:
“[Woodhall’s character] is sort of post-trauma trying to be okay. And that to me just felt like a very rich thematic landscape to explore.”
Of course, for a film about a piano tuner to be provocative, the person who needs the most tuning is the main character himself. Roher delivers and is a narrative director to watch.
Here is the trailer:
Now in theaters.
