Thursday, January 8, 2015

Cage at the Movies: Sound of Noise


Saw a great film last night with such a whimsical, Cage-inspired premise, that I thought it would be worth mentioning here.

Sound of Noise is a 2010 Swedish-French film about a police officer from a family of prestigious musicians. The black sheep of the family, the officer is tone-deaf, has no musical talent and does not enjoy listening to music. Meanwhile, a group of "anarchist musicians" begin staging some less-than-legal performances around the city. During the officer's investigation and pursuit of the guerrilla musicians, the everyday objects they use to create their music are rendered soundless, and the audience also experiences his literal tone-deafness.

In the spirit of Cage's all-sound music, the film is an entertaining introduction into the musical sounds of non-musical instruments. The story is a follow-up to the 2001 short film Music for One Apartment and Six Drummers. The title of the film purportedly comes from Italian futurist Luigi Russolo's 1913 manifesto The Art of Noises.

You can watch the trailer here

image credit: Nordisk Film