kkenny

Such a great read, thank you! I think the use of silence speaks to the film’s focus on seeing. Bob and Charlotte “see” each other in a way that their spouses don’t see them and in a way they don’t see their spouses. The silence emphasizes the connection they foster through body language and shared culture alone. It seems less about their shared language and more about the connection they create based on shared American cultural norms that differ in some ways from Japanese cultural norms. The film’s use of both diegetic and non-diegetic music is also interesting, with an extensive pop soundtrack in addition to karaoke scenes. Coppola seems to place the audience in the position of the characters at certain moments, while also squarely reminding the viewer of their external position to the connection between Bob and Charlotte at other moments.

I so appreciate the thread you have woven between classic films that play on memory and more recent science fiction films. Regardless of the depiction of technology at play, memory has such a strong hold on our conceptions of who we are and how we relate to others.

Thank you so much for this study on two films’ use of music. Your description of the music as additive and able to connect audiences to characters calls to mind Michel Chion’s distinction between empathetic and an-empathetic sound. The empathetic sound in these films takes on the feelings in the scene, as opposed to indifference to the events of the narrative. This empathetic sound enables audiences to feel more as they watch and listen, often not even consciously listening.