The relationship between rock and seventh art continues to deepen with increasingly ambitious proposals. On this occasion, it is Metallica who returns to occupy a leading place on the big screen, not as an object of a documentary or musical biographybut as direct inspiration for a psychological and horror thriller.
The film in question is Sinnersdirected by the acclaimed filmmaker Ryan CoogleR, who surprised to reveal that the structure ofThe film is based on one of the darkest and emblematic songs of the Californian quartet: ‘One’.
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Michael B. Jordan heads the cast playing Smoke and Stack, two twin brothers marked by their past in the world of organized crime in Chicago. After years of violence, they return to their homeland in Mississippi hoping to start a new stage and open a jazz club.
However, the attempt to be redeemed is found with strong resistance from the local white community. This tension unleashes a social conflict that mobilizes the marginalized sectors of the people, especially the black and Asian communities, who find in music a way to resist and reconnect.
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Why was Metallica inspired?
Coogler, a native of the San Francisco Bay area, the same region that saw Metallica born and growing up, explained to the San Francisco Chronicle That the song ‘One’ was a key starting point: “I wanted the movie to look like a song, so I used ‘One’, from Metallica”. On the narrative structure, he added: “Start intense, then become melodic and go somewhere fucking crazy. But by the time you finish, it is clear that you will always get there.”
The director also confessed that his love for Metallica arrived late, although that did not prevent him from understanding the emotional and narrative power of his music. So much so that Lars Ulrich, drummer and founding member of the band, joined the project collaborating in the original soundtrack of the film.
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The letter of ‘One’ tells the tragic story of a soldier who, after the explosion of a mine, is caught in his own body: without arms, without legs and without senses. This oppressive and desperate atmosphere resonated with the emotional tone that Coogler wanted to convey in Sinnerswhere internal pain, alienation and search for meaning are central axes.
