Film is a type of medium that contains all forms of arts; one of which is music, sound. Sound is usually powerful in creating moods, providing more information in movies. It is quite interesting when sometimes you turn off the sound while watching a horror movie and you find that it is not scary at all but hilarious. So as important as sound is to a film, it is usually studied specifically alone.
Vivre Sa Vie, this week’s screening film, is produced during the French New Wave era in the history of cinema which manipulates the sound quite uniquely. Firstly, the musical motifs of the theme soundtrack are there to set the tone. It first appears during the opening credits accompanied by shots of extreme close-ups of Nana, our protagonist. Here, the melancholy sound communicates a feeling of helplessness, sadness; it is about the life which is full of loneliness, tragedies, struggles but the one which we must carry on living with a smile. The music not only tells us about the life Nana’s leading, but also foreshadows his tragic death at the end of the movie where the music appears again. It is also used throughout the film, constantly reminding us what kind of life is Nana living.
Vivre Sa Vie Theme
Another thing is the offscreen, external diegetic dialogue between Nana and her pimp, Raoul. With Raoul answering questions from Nana, she is learning to be a prostitute and the visuals show us what she has been doing as a prostitute. The section cleverly uses sound along with the images to give us a general idea of Nana’s new life to live. Lastly, there is a scene in which Nana sits alone in the cafe while her friend, Yvette, goes to talk with Raoul. A non-diegetic music, Ma Môme, is played while Nana looks at the other ones in the cafe. It seems like that the music is expressing some thinking that’s within Nana, but we are not quite sure what it is about.
Ma Môme Scene in Café
Another thing about sound in the movie that I don’t quite understand is the sound of high heels tapping on the pavement when Nana meets her friend on the street. The tapping almost reaches the same level as the speech between the friends. Why is that?
Vivre Sa Vie Trailer
