‘Analysing Examples’
Diegetic anchoring of underscore:
The great beauty- The film opens with the sun shining on multiple beautiful landmarks in Rome, tourists take their pictures, locals smoke their cigarettes, all of which underscored by a church bell ringing. The church bells are shortly accompanied by an all female choir chanting harmonies that sound somewhere between apathetic and melancholic. As the opening continues with shots of tourists admiring the beauty of Rome, a solo singer takes the lead with a melancholic passionate melody. This stark contrast between the seemingly eternal beauty of Rome and the melancholic singing is the crux of the film. A surrounding of decadence and beauty, while feeling unfulfilled, unable to reach ‘the great beauty’ in regards to the human condition. With this musical contrast, Paolo Sorrentino was able to set up the concept of the film, and by making the source of the music a diegetic element, the representation of the melancholic humanity (the choir) is made a part of the city itself, the solo vocalist stares out at the beauty as if to have a dialogue with it.
Delicatessen (1991)
Underscore as a narrative drive:
Delicatessen- Delicatessen is a post apocalyptic black comedy about a butcher who has gained power and influence through selling human meat in a world where protein is scarce. The film explores the dynamic between the butcher, his assistant who is next lined up for the slaughter, the butchers daughter and the people living in his building. There is a scene in which directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro use sound as a narrative device to demonstrate the dynamic of the building.
The scene opens as the butcher is getting intimate with a woman on a very noisy metal spring bed, the subsequent creaking noise echoes through the pipes of the building permeating the residents rooms. First a cellist plays her scales to the tempo of the creaks, then man painting his ceiling matches the tempo, a person inflating a bike tyre, a woman beating a rug and lastly a man working a punching machine. As the creaks rise in tempo, the actions of the residents become comically fast. Sound is acting as a narrative tool to drive the story, both resulting in a comical situation and demonstrating the power dynamics of the household.