Sometimes in film, there are moments when we don’t hear what the characters are saying. But that doesn’t mean the moment isn’t important: the silence is placed there on purpose as a cinematic device. The director doesn’t want the audience to know what’s said.
This video essay titled “When Words Fail in Movies,” from Filmscalpel and Fandor Keyframe, explores the wide range of reasons why a filmmaker might prevent the audience from hearing what’s transpiring in a given scene. Throughout the video, text over scenes from movies provide multiple reasons for the silence. These forced silences can mean anything from indifference, to conspiracy, to suspense.
Learn more about the video here.
Here are the films featured:
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- The Matrix (Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, 1999)
- The Godfather: Part III (Francis Ford Coppola, 1990)
- Mon Oncle (Jacques Tati, 1958)
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
- Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003)
- On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
- The Graduate (Mike Nichols, 1967)
- The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Tony Richardson, 1962)
- North by Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)
- In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wai, 2000)
- The Martian (Ridley Scott, 2015)
- The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Luis Buñuel, 1972)
- The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)
- La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
