Mon Oncle

What a cool movie. I love the way Jacques Tati directed the sound and cinematography of this movie. The sounds fit the locations perfectly. The stark, gray Arpel house is complimented by reverberant footsteps, annoying doorbells, and buzzing kitchen appliances. The incessant fish fountain almost mocks them with the natural sounds of water. Tati creates a separate world of sounds for Hulot, who is surrounded by the cries of street vendors, sounds of motorists, and songs of birds. These contrasting worlds present the stereotypical conflicts of nature vs. industry or natural vs. the unnatural in a new and entertaining setting. The use of sounds to portray these places is one of the strong points of the film. In many ways it reminds me of distopian fiction; Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, though not as grave in tone as these stories, Mon Oncle presents the same conflicts in a light-hearted setting.

M, the movie

At first listen, M presents a sparse soundscape. Sound effects are rare, and dialogue comprises the majority of the sound. Many scenes show an odd (to the modern viewer) absence of sound; lacking the sounds of footsteps, constant clicks of guns, and roar of vehicles we're accustomed to. This isn't really surprising considering that the film was made during the infancy of cinema. In an era where films with sound were still called "talkies" it's to be expected that mere dialogue itself was enough to keep the viewers interested. However, instead of being a distraction, I found myself focused on the narrative of the movie instead. And of course, the distinctive whistling (one could almost call it a leitmotif) contrasts the dialogue and draws our attention immediately. I think it would be interesting if a filmmaker decided to make a movie using as sparse a soundscape as we see here. Would the modern audience have the patience to watch it?