German actor August Diehl will play Dmitri Shostakovich in the upcoming film, The Noise of Time.
Famous for his portrayal of the of the sinister Major Dieter Hellstrom in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, Diehl will play the embattled composer opposite Andrea Riseborough (Birdman, To Leslie) who will play Shostakovich's wife and intellectual equal, Nina.
The film is a neo-noir thriller and fictionalized biography of Shostakovich, following the composer after his first denouncement in 1936, when his opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, fueled accusations of formalism. Shostakovich barely escaped severe persecution, but spent the next decades writing Soviet-approved works in public, while secretly upholding the integrity of his music. It is based on Julian Barnes' Booker Prize-winning novel of the same name, and will be adapted for film by Christopher Hampton, who won several awards for the screenplay of 2020's The Father.
"The story reflects on the collision of art and power, which couldn't be more topical these days," says Tassilo Hallbauer, Beta Cinema's head of sales and acquisitions. "However, the script's tonality is outstanding, as the drama is giving way to black humor and subtle irony and leans heavily into neo-noir thriller elements. August Diehl is a perfect match for this role as an ingenious, self-reflecting artist, who tears himself apart between integrity and bowing to the regime. And we can't wait to see Andrea Riseborough in the multi-layered role of [Nina]."
Directing the film is Jan Komasa, whose Corpus Christi earned an Academy nomination for Best International Feature Film. It is but one of several recent and upcoming films presenting the lives of classical music composers. These include 2022's Il Boemo, 2023's Maestro, and the upcoming The King of Covent Garden.
The Noise of Time is set to start filming in 2025.
