Last year, we saw Ethan Hawke portray a reclusive cult singer-songwriter in Juliet, Naked and direct Blaze about the little-known country musician Blaze Foley. Now, he and Alessandro Nivola are starring in the Louvin brothers biopic, Satan Is Real, as Variety reports.
Directed by Phil Morrison, Satan Is Real will follow Charlie and Ira Louvin's intense relationship, bonded by brotherly love and sibling rivalry. According to Variety, Charlie always acted in accordance with his Christianity, while Ira was more violent, "known for smashing his mandolin to splinters onstage and wrecking havoc in his wake."
Hawke and Nivola told Variety that they want to perform the kind of harmonizing that can only be achieved when family members sing together, often referred to as a “blood harmony," for the film's musical sequences. Hawke expands: “It’s such an important expression to us...It sounds both violent and beautiful and the music should be that. It’s aggressive, it’s electric, it’s strange. It’s not Brooklyn folk rock. It’s not wannabe cool guy country. It’s hillbilly gospel music.”
Soon, the two actors will present the film to buyers at Cannes. They've already recorded some of the Louvin brothers' songs to draw intrigue and prove their ability to the financiers.
