Thursday, May 30, 2013
Silence is Golden
After watching our first three movies, it seemed as if every second of those movies was filled with sound (dialogue, music, or background noise). While viewing Cat People, there were noticeably long periods of silence. It was amazing to recognize how powerful this silence was. It is as if the silence had its own character-like qualities (mysterious, complex, etc). We all have been watching horror movies for years and are fully aware of the powerful role that silence plays, but this movie is 70 years old. I know that Cat People almost seems almost childlike now, but I can see how it was so groundbreaking for its time. Aided by the long periods of silence, this movie played on the imagination of the viewer, which was contrary to the other horror movies of its time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
When the panther growl/bus noise hit I got a bit of a jump. A tactic used too often nowadays but the silence and emphasis on footsteps really made us wait for what would happen next.
ReplyDeleteWhen the bus pulled up to Alice, it definitely sounded like a cat pouncing on its prey. I jumped a little too, I thought Alice was going to be attacked and killed. But when it turned out to be bus, I felt the relief you can see on Alice's stunned face. This is one of the reasons I like Cat People. It does a great job of creating anxiety, suspense, and the release.
DeleteGlad everyone was tapping into it. It really does hold up if you approach it properly. It's one of those films that becomes more and more interesting the more you consider it.
ReplyDeleteAbsence makes the heart grow fonder...or terrified. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe scene that was the most intriguing when dealing with silence in my opinion was the one where Alice is in the pool and she hears Irena's roars in her panther state every few seconds with strong silence pauses in between. The director changed up the usual pattern after this scene by having Irena show herself rather than attack Alice. There were two ways he could have gone with this. The long silence with sudden, small roars caused the audience to not know what would happen as the camera was focused on Alice.
ReplyDeleteIs there any way the lack of silence may not have to do with the film itself, but rather the production process? In modern movie making, it is easy to edit out surrounding noises in post production. Maybe in the older films, the music is added to cover up background noise just as much as it is to create a mood.
ReplyDeleteBerry I agree that silence is golden because it got everyone wondering what next in the scene,especially, the sound of Irena and Alice shoes, the sound of the bus picking Alice break the silence. The scene I like most too was where Irena cat instinct future at the pool Alice was swimming.
ReplyDeleteI felt the long silences and the quiet reserve of Irena made me think of her animal connections. Like a cat waiting, watching, observing, sitting in dark quiet silence, ready to pounce. At least that's what my cats do, lol.
ReplyDelete