cinema of noise

FILM NOTES: Additional film titles relevant to the Cinema of Noise series

Contemporary

“The horror might be kept off-screen, but Glazer’s indirect approach is not to shy away, nor shield us. The evil at the heart of the film cannot be contained by concrete walls and barbed wire. Seen or not, it infiltrates its surroundings with the stain of complicity, just like the incessant drone of machinery, screams and gunfire that underscore almost every scene, polluting the otherwise pristine interiors of the Höss residence.” [Discussing Zone of Interest (2023), Michalel Blyth, Curzon Journal, 2024]

The Substance [2024] dir. Coralie Fargeat | body horror, materiality of sound, hyper-reality, proximity, foley
Nocturnes [2024] dir. Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan | natural world, deep listening, soundscape
Zone of Interest [2023] dir. Johnathan Glazer | offscreen soundworld, compelled to listen, point of audition
Anatomy of a Fall [2023] dir. Justine Triet | offscreen diegetic music in opening scene

Avant-garde & Experimental

“When you read a text, you’re on your own time. That is not the case in film. In fact, in film, you’re dominated by my time. But time is different for everyone. Five minutes isn’t the same thing for you as it is for me. And five minutes sometimes seems long, sometimes seems short. Take a specific film, say, D’Est: I imagine the way each viewer experiences time is different. And on my end, when I edit, the timing isn’t done just any way. I draw it out to the point where we have to cut. Or take another example, News from Home: How much time should we take to show this street so that what’s happening is something other than a mere piece of information? So that we can go from the concrete to the abstract and come back to the concrete—or move forward in another way.” [Chantal Akerman, Interview with Miriam Rosen, Artforum, 2004]

Doors [2022] dir. Christian Marclay | continuity, picture & sound edits, onscreen and offscreen
Train Again [2021] dir. Peter Tscherkassky | experimental soundtrack
Koyaanisqatsi [1982] dir. Godfrey Reggio | score
Self-Examination Remote Control [1981/2009] dir. Eve Heller | picture & sound edit
News from Home [1976] dir. Chantal Akerman | cityscape, synchronous/asynchronous sound, the voice
Broadwalk [1972] dir. William Raban | experimental soundtrack
Guiness for You (1971) dir. Anthony Short | experimental soundtrack
Grandmother [1970] dir, David Lynch | body horror, materiality of sound, sound effects
Black TV [1968] dir. Aldo Tambellini | news broadcast, collage, noise, video art
Vietflakes [1965] dir. Carolee Schneemann | James Tenney soundtrack, filmming photographs
Snow [1963] dir. Geoggrey Jones | Daphne Oram soundtrack
Speak [1962] dir. John Latham | circular saw soundtrack
Moi, Un Noir [1958] dir. Jean Rouch | post-dubbing, synchronous/asynchronous sound
Glass [1958] dir. Bert Hoanstra | experimental soundtrack
Pacific 231 [1949] dir. Jean Mitry | industrial sounds

Early Talkies to Classic Period

“The movie, even talking, ought to create methods of expression very different from those employed on the stage. In the theatre, the words bring about the action; what we see is secondary importance to what we hear. In the movies, the prime method of expression is the picture, and the elements of words and sounds should not dominate.” [Marcel Lapierre, Anthologie Du Cinéma, 1946]

Cairo Station [1958] dir. Youssef Chahine •passing train moment
The Deserter [1933] dir. Vsevolod Pudovkin •ship building montage, fight scene
Le Million [1931] dir. René Clair • football sound effects, chase scene
À Nous la Liberté [1931] dir. René Clair • record player, memory footsteps, sound & picture edits
Dr Jekyll & My Hyde [1931] dir. Roubin Mamoulian •horror sound effects
M [1931] dir. Fritz Lang • silence as tension, leitmotif, asynchronised sound, offscreen
Sous let toiles de Paris [1930] dir. René Clair • offscreen sound, fight scene, absence of dialogue
All Quiet on the Western Front [1930] dir. Lewis Milestone • sound effects, post-synchronisation
Applause [1929] dir. Rouben Mamoulian • convant to city transition sequence
The Love Parade [1929] Ernst Lubitsch • offscreen sound effects, dubbing
Hallelujah [1929] dir, King Vidor • dislocation of diegetic sounds, end chase soundscape
Blackmail [1929] dir. Alfred Hitchcock • “halfalogue” knife scene

References

Curzon - https://www.curzon.com/journal/the-zone-of-interest-interview/
Artforum - https://www.artforum.com/features/in-her-own-time-an-interview-with-chantal-akerman-168431