Not with a Bang . . . Silence, Noise and Musical Nihilism in Béla Tarr’s A torinói ló
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jfm.31323Keywords:
Béla Tarr, Mihály Vig, film theory, music analysisAbstract
In this paper, we analyze the soundtrack of Béla Tarr’s A torinói ló from multiple perspectives. We consider each of the distinct categories of sonic elements and consider their interactions in terms of their dramatic, symbolic, and structural roles. These primary elements—repetitive sample loops of pink noise, broadband noise, and highly redundant melodic fragments, all layered and sequenced in a variety of configurations, along with the musical deployment of silence, dominate the film—interrupted only by the voice of the narrator and the occasional voices of actors.
References
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van Elferen, Isabella. 2012. Dream timbre: Notes on Lynchian sound design. In Music, sound and filmmakers: Sonic style in cinema, ed. J. Wierzbecki, 175-188. London: Routledge.
Bergson, Albert J. and Andrew M. Greeley. 2000. God in the movies. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Chion, Michel. 2009. Film: A sound art, trans. Claudia Gorbman. New York: Columbia University Press.
Eye for Film. 2011. From the horse’s mouth: Legendary director Bela Tarr discusses his latest and final film. Eye for Film. Accessed July 22, 2014. http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2011-06-21-interview-with-bela-tarr-about-turin-horse-feature-story-by-chris
Gorbman, Claudia. 1987. Unheard melodies: Narrative film music. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Jablonski, Simon. 2012. An interview with Bela Tarr. Little White Lies (May 31). Accessed July 22, 2014. http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/features/interviews/bela-tarr-20644
Klett, J. and A. Gerber. 2014. The meaning of indeterminacy: Noise music as performance. Cultural Sociology (March): 275-290.
Kovács, András Bálint. 2013. The cinema of Béla Tarr: The circle closes. London: Wallflower Press.
Lehrich, Christopher I. 2014. Hearing transcendence: Distorted iconism in T?ru Takemitsu’s film. Signs and Society 2, no. S1 (Supplement): S215-45.
New York Film Forum. 2011. Interview with Béla Tarr (October 9). Film Society Lincoln Center. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxHNl2H8IO0
Nietzsche, Friedrich. 1880. Der Wanderer und Sein Schatten (The wanderer and his shadow). Chemnitz: Ernst Schmeitzner.
Riemann, Hugo. 1893. Analysis of J.S. Bach’s Wohltemperirtes Clavier Vol. I, trans. J.S. Schedlock. New York: G. Schirmer.
Sbrizzi, Paul. 2011. A conversation with Bela Tarr (The Turin Horse). Hammer to Nail, November 30. Accessed July 22, 2014. http://www.hammertonail.com/interviews/a-conversation-with-bela-tarr...
Schubart, Christian Friedrich Daniel. 1806. Ideen zu einer Aesthetik der Tonkunst. Vienna: J.D. Degen.
Slowik, Michael. 2013. Diegetic withdrawal and other worlds: Film music strategies before “King Kong”, 1927–1933. Cinema Journal 53, no. 1 (Fall): 1-25.
van Elferen, Isabella. 2012. Dream timbre: Notes on Lynchian sound design. In Music, sound and filmmakers: Sonic style in cinema, ed. J. Wierzbecki, 175-188. London: Routledge.
Published
2019-09-09
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Berger, T., & Berger, J. (2019). Not with a Bang . . . Silence, Noise and Musical Nihilism in Béla Tarr’s A torinói ló. Journal of Film Music, 7(2), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.1558/jfm.31323
