Sound in the film 'The Piano'

The film ‘The Piano’ makes effective use of the convention sound. Ironically, for a film named after a musical instrument, the film uses a lot of silence. One such use is in the scene where Ada goes to see George for the last time and the room scene is silent except for George’s quiet monologue about their relationship (11:11:28). The silence creates and eerie and suspenseful tone. It is suspenseful in the sense that the audience doesn’t know the intentions of the characters or what their actions will be, and the silence builds on this suspense because the audience isn’t given any hints through music or sound effects. The silence builds a dark tone because it makes the scene feel very raw. Although the stripped-down nature of the sound in the scene doesn’t blatantly imply macabre tones, the silence feels very creepy and strange. This is because it breaks the convention of the usual swelling score in romance scenes. The Piano gives the audience a bare, naked scene, instead of something where the music does the thinking for them. This strikes the audience as peculiar and eerie. But the film and its main character Ada are peculiar and eerie, and the use of silence demonstrates that. The strange and unconventional of the silence in the scene makes the audience feel uncomfortable, through the silence and the broken dialogue. Ada is probably also feeling uncomfortable in the scene, so the use of silence helps relate Ada’s feelings to the audience. It creates a sense of awkwardness and realness in the scene; the silence makes the film feel more realistic because silence is not something you usually hear in a film. It adds to the format of the slow lingering pace the film has because it draws out the dialogue and slows down the action. The silence in the film may represent Ada’s silence which in turn represents the silencing and oppression of the women across the world. In general, the silence adds to the overall dark and moody tone of the film.

The film also uses music to carry effect. Most of the films score is just piano music, which, of course, relates to the film as the piano is a motif. However, this doesn’t hinder the range of emotional impact from the score. The piano music can matches the happy mood of the scene at 01:49:38, and the dramatic and romantic mood of the scene at 01:15:13. The diverse moods of the piano music help the audience feel the various tones of the scenes and the emotions of the characters. Particularly Ada, whose perspective the film follows most of the time, because the piano is descrived as her voice. Ada says “I don’t think myself silent. That is because of my piano”. So it follows that the tone of the piano would reflect her emotions in a lot of the film. Where Ada is unable to express herself, both physically and in society, we get to see into her soul through the film and the music. It helps us see how Ada is ignored and how she is empowered. A lot of the music is diegetic, which is quite unusual for a film. The further emphasises how the music is reflective of Ada’s feelings as she is creating the music. The diegetic and simple music also helps the film stay grounded. It makes the film more grounded. It makes the film seem more disciplined as the music is more realistic. The very raw simple score adds to the dark tones of the film. This breaks the convention of the standard romance films’ score. These scores are generally orchestral, fickle and climactic. But the score of The Piano is different; it furthers itself from a standard romance film through the score.