San Francisco Frontiers - On key: Leo Woodall finds right notes in 'Tuner'

The movie, which debuted this week in the United States, is a blend of romance, drama, and thriller that gave the 29-year-old rising star a dream role.

"I just thought it was a gift of a part for an actor, and I just immediately wanted to start work on it," he told AFP.

"Tuner" follows Niki (Woodall), a former piano prodigy forced to abandon music after developing hyperacusis -- an auditory condition that leaves him incredibly sensitive to sound.

His life now follows a monotonous routine as an apprentice to piano tuner Harry, a father figure and charismatic chatterbox played by Dustin Hoffman.

Alone on a tuning job one evening in a wealthy house, Nikki meets a gang of thieves who discover his incredible hearing means he can crack safes.

What starts out as a side-earner quickly degenerates, and Niki is thrust into dangerous situations that jeopardise his burgeoning relationship with a gifted composition student, played by Havana Rose Liu.

"I just knew it was a film that I would really enjoy," Woodall said. "It's the kind of film that I love, and there's so much variety."

To get under Niki's skin, Woodall practised the piano for months — an endeavor that not only taught him discipline but also brought him closer to an instrument he had always felt drawn to.

"It was challenging and stressful, but it was also a beautiful opportunity," said "The White Lotus" star.

"One of the privileges of doing what actors do, is you learn skills that you wouldn't otherwise."

Under the direction of Roher -- who won an Academy Award for "Navalny" about the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny — Woodall and Hoffman move from piano to piano with an undeniable chemistry.

"We just both understood our characters, and understood our dynamic, and understood how they would communicate with each other," he said.

"I think ultimately Daniel just kind of wanted to roll the camera, and Dustin and me would just hang out," added the young actor, who praised the lightness of spirit of the 88-year-old Hoffman.

"He makes everything feel even more alive."

— Sound —

Part of what makes "Tuner" work is Woodall's ability to get the audience to understand Niki's struggles with his hypersensitive hearing.

He was aided in no small part by Johnnie Burn, the film's sound designer, who himself suffered from the condition for months following a domestic accident at the age of 19.

Burn — who won an Oscar for his work on the war drama "The Zone of Interest" — approached the film as if it were a musical composition.

"When they (Woodall and Hoffman) walk down the street in Manhattan, the birds sing a little melody," he said, adding that he wanted the viewer to be able to understand that without consciously noticing it.

To make the audience perceive the world as Niki does, the sound designer played with volume to demonstrate how his hearing fluctuates.

The advantage of working on a story of this kind, Burn noted, is that sound elicits a quicker reaction than visuals.

"You believe sound more," he said. "If you have pictures say one thing, sounds say another, then the sound is the thing that you trust.

"So it can be enormously powerful to have a film that relies heavily on sound for its story, because you believe it."

F.Garcia--SFF