The familiar narrative of a cult leader with an overreaching control of the minds of his/her followers has been and always will be fertile ground for the exploration of “groupthink” and the vulnerability of the misguided. In their brand new film collaboration, director Zal Batmanglij, lead actress Brit Marling, and the film’s composer, VAMPIRE WEEKEND keyboardist-singer-songwriter Rostam Batmanglij (who also happens to be Zal’s brother, as well as one of my dreamboat Future Husbands), enter this rich terrain and have joined forces for the film Sound Of My Voice. The film is gaining critical acclaim from countless top critics, and tells the story of Maggie, the beautiful blonde temptress/messiah leading a group of cult followers from the comfort of her suburban, shag-carpeted basement in Los Angeles. VANITY FAIR recently caught up with the dream team and the following is a brief excerpt from the interview:
VANITY FAIR: “What about cults interests you? What inherent in groupthink do you feel appeals to viewers/the masses?”
ZAL BATMANGLIJ: “Family. I think a lot of people find that through work but I believe people are hungry for something deeper than that. Group think and groups in general allow you to more fully give yourself to something other than yourself and your betterment — to feel a sense of belonging. Now is this a good thing? I don’t know, but it’s something that is longed for, at least by me.”
VANITY FAIR: “Rostam, how much of the film’s score is original?”
ROSTAM BATMANGLIJ: “All of the music in the film was written by me, save for one song sung in the actual film by a cast member and the Hot Chip song, which appears at the end.”
VANITY FAIR: “How and why did you choose that song to end the film?”
ROSTAM BATMANGLIJ: “I didn’t choose that song — Zal did. He had taken a trip up to San Francisco and listened to that song on repeat. It was a personal choice of his and I always love it when directors choose songs for their films themselves so I was really happy for it to be there. Films should involve a director’s idiosyncrasies as much as possible I think. Zal is certainly one of those directors.”
You can read the entire interview by visiting VANITYFAIR.com, and be sure to follow the world’s greatest magazine on Facebook and Twitter. To learn more about the film you can visit its website at SoundOfMyVoiceMovie.com, as well as follow director Zal Batmanglij on Twitter. And for live updates from the brilliant and gorgeous hotness that is Rostam Batmanglij of VAMPIRE WEEKEND you can follow him on Twitter and check out his Tumblr.
