I watched Fritz Lang's "M" this weekend for film class and, since I knew I would have to write a paper about it, I paid particular attention to his use of sound.

For those that haven't seen it (you should), it was made in 1931 and was Lang's first sound movie. The way he uses sound in the film is *brilliant*. The movie is about a child murderer (it's generally considered to be the first serial killer movie) and during the sequences where he's stalking children the soundtrack is largely silent. We hear his footsteps, see his shadow and hear the killer's compulsive whistling. During other scenes, as when he's caught in a closed office building and being pursued by a bunch of gangsters, we hear only footsteps and his breathing.

The upshot of this is an extremely haunting atmosphere. It reminds me of perhaps my all-time favorite use of sound, in "2001." I'm not the biggest fan of "2001," but the HAL/Dave scenes justify it being considered a classic in my opinion. Particularly, the sequence toward the end where Dave is stuck outside the ship, gets back in without a helmet and then disconnects HAL amazes me. What strikes me about this is the way Kubrick makes the soundtrack practically silent during this time. The space bits have *no* sound, and when Dave is in his helmet all we hear is his breathing.

I really find it amazing how effectively silence creates a creepy feeling. I'm wondering if it's something inherent in silence or if movies are just so loud normally that it's surprising when they're quiet. Overbearing soundtracks bug me especially in thrillers and horror movies; if you watch enough horror movies you can tell what's going to happen just by picking up on the musical cues. Hitchcock made "The Birds" without any sort of musical score and it stands as one of the best thrillers ever made. I've seen that movie half-a-dozen times and have never once wished there was some blaring music from off-camera.

Does anyone else have any particular favorite silent scenes in movies? Why? What is it that makes silence so effective?

Ste "And if anyone dislikes silence in movies, I'd be interested in hearing from them" phen