Breaking In

Hip-hop and rap began life in the early 70s in predominantly working-class black communities in the Bronx, New York. DJ Kool Herc is credited with the genre’s creation through using turntable techniques to extend percussive breaks. The musical techniques and sound associated with the genre would continue to evolve and change with time. His collaborator, Coke La Rock, rapped over the breaks. Many party attendees also performed what is now called breakdancing. From there, the music became a popular live feature at parties. In 1979, the first recorded and widely circulated hip-hop tracks emerged, with songs like Sugarhill Gang’s Rapper’s Delight.

Despite starting as party music and vehicles for an artist’s skills, Hip-hop also spoke about social and political issues. Namely, racism, class, police brutality, and it humanised people painted as criminals.

Cinema began intersecting with hip-hop and rap in the early ’80s with films like Wild Style and Style Wars. This focused on another artistic expression associated with the movement, graffiti. Through documentary (Style Wars) and the combination of live performances and scripted narrative (Wild Style), these films acted as documents of the environment that produced hip-hop. As well as the genre’s early music and style. 

Taking Over

As the 80s went on, hip-hop spread across the world. In the US, artists like LL Cool J and groups like Run-DMC topped the charts. Additionally, MTV eventually began programming shows devoted to the genre. Hip-hop was popular, and film producers took notice.

The film Breakin made over $38 million on a $1.2 million budget. Beat Street and Krush Groove enabled directors Stan Lathan and Michael Schultz to showcase their perspective on the genre to a wider audience, and Run-DMC had their own star vehicle in 1988’s Tougher Than Leather. At the same time, hip-hop songs were being used to market blockbusters. See The Fat Boys’ Are You Ready For Freddy marketing A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master.

Then, in 1989, Do the Right Thing came out. Spike Lee’s film is steeped in hip-hop style, music and politics. It discusses topics like racism in working-class communities and police brutality. Features noticeable use of graffiti and makes heavy use (diegetic and thematic) of Public Enemy’s Fight the Power. It succeeded commercially and critically. Proving that hip-hop and film could be powerful partners.

Culture And Industry

Since the 90s, hip-hop, rap and cinema have become inseparable. Genre stars, including Tupac Shakur (Juice), Ice Cube (Boyz N the Hood), Queen Latifah (Set It Off) and Will Smith (Men in Black) and more, headlined acclaimed movies. The genre was part of the DNA of New Black Realism and informed modern world cinema. See films like La Haine (France), Kneecap (Ireland), Mogul Mowgli (UK) and the films of Ryan Coogler and many others. Hits like Straight Outta Compton dramatised hip-hop group N.W.A’s story. Meanwhile, the Spider-Verse films feature hip-hop heavily as part of Miles’ world. Artists like Eminem, Three 6 Mafia and Frayser Boy and Common have won Oscars. Kendrick Lamar’s work on the Black Panther soundtrack was also nominated and marked as the start of a new renaissance for movie soundtracks. Hip-hop and rap music are also commonplace within film marketing. 

This is just scratching the surface of the immense impact of hip-hop and rap on cinema. Yet despite all this, the genre’s main architects and audience, black Americans, are still underserved by Hollywood. Roles for black artists, in front of and behind the camera, are still disproportionately low in the US. The executives making the bulk of the money from the artists’ work are still overwhelmingly white, and little is being done by mainstream cinema to achieve hip-hop’s more radical goals. Hollywood will use rap and hip-hop to sell tickets, but will also happily discard artists when convenient. Still, for all the corporate attempts at co-option, there are still earnest uses of the music to give voice and enjoyment to the unseen and downtrodden. That is when cinema truly embodies hip-hop’s spirit.

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Here are a few underrated 70s sci-fi films that we think deserve much more love and why we love them.

The Andromeda Strain

Filmmaker Alex Cox once compared The Andromeda Strain to 2001: A Space Odyssey. A not undeserved comparison. Not only do both contain incredible special effects work from Douglas Trumbull, but they also resist using “cinematic” stars and characterisation for their heroes and focus a lot on the mechanics of the science at play. When this is all paired with a prescient plot about scientists trying to contain a world-ending unknown alien organism that spreads like a disease you have a sci-fi disaster movie that feels much more real than many of its contemporaries.

Ivan Vasilievich Changes His Profession

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of cinematic realism, we have a farcical time-travel comedy. Which in many ways feels like a precursor to the Bill and Ted series. After an inventor creates a time machine he accidentally sends his building manager, Ivan, and a thief back in time to the court of Ivan the Terrible. Funnily enough, Ivan the Terrible is the spitting image of Ivan the Building Manager. So they end up swapping positions. There is some good social satire here about bureaucracy and power. But more than anything this is just a funny slapstick sci-fi comedy. With prior movies like The Time Machine establishing a serious tone around the subject, Ivan Vasilievich is a welcome break. It doesn’t care about paradoxes or plausibility it just picks up its fun premise and runs with it. Which creates an infectious energy you can’t help but be enraptured by.

The Asphyx

Similar in tone to the sci-fi-inflected horror films that came out of the likes of Hammer in the preceding decades, The Asphyx, tells the classic story of a scientist’s (Robert Stephens) search for immortality. What sets it apart is it’s more overt focus on human drama and its unique central premise. Robert Stephens’ and Robert Powell’s performances are really emotionally resonant. Stephens wants to protect his family at all costs, while Powell believes man can’t and shouldn’t control everything. Additionally, the film focuses on the use of steampunk-esque technology to trap spirits that bring death to humans. Not unlike a Victorian Ghostbusters. A wonky but wonderfully entertaining watch.

Space is the Place

Of the movies recommended here, Space is the Place is the most obscure but also the most interesting. An early Afrofuturist film, the narrative follows musician Sun-Ra and his crew, the Arkestra, as they return to Earth having decided to bring African Americans to a new planet he has discovered, using the medium of song. Once back on Earth, he has to deal with scepticism and battle the Overseer to determine what the future will be for African American people. Not everything here works. There is some wooden acting, the writing feels very self-indulgent at times and the lacklustre direction diminishes the power of key narrative moments. However, with an interesting central plot revolving around using sci-fi concepts to mirror and address themes specifically intended for African American audiences, like black empowerment, separatism and self-determination, beautiful design work and a unique blending of styles; music, crime, sci-fi, exploitation and more, Space is the Place is a trailblazing pioneer that everyone should see.

Hopefully, these examples have given you some more great 70s sci-fi to add to your watchlists. But these are just the tip of the iceberg for underrated sci-fi gems. So please use these choices as a jumping-off point to see more from this great period in genre history.

The post Why These 70s Sci-Fi Films Deserve More Attention appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023)

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour premiered in October 2023 as a box office smash, earning $26 million within its first three hours. It has grossed over $261 million worldwide, beating out Michael Jackson’s This Is It (2009) to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time. Coming in just under three hours, the film is an artistic depiction of the global pop star’s The Eras Tour. The still-ongoing tour features a massive set list from all ten of Taylor Swift’s studio albums—a representation of her musical “eras”. Spanning 5 continents, 151 shows, and over a year of performances, this is building up to be one of the biggest global tours to date.

The film’s success isn’t only because of Swift’s lyrical skill and loyal fan base—a lot of it comes down to an ingenious business approach to distribution. Swift’s team bypassed traditional distributors and negotiated directly with AMC Theatres, effectively cutting out the middlemen. They even received an exemption from SAG-AFTRA to continue production during the 2023 strike. This unorthodox approach set the groundwork for record-breaking ticket sales.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (2023)

On the other side of the global music spectrum, we find the once-in-a-generation phenomenon, Beyoncé. Written and directed by Beyoncé herself, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé gives us a glimpse into the action behind the scenes of the star’s Renaissance World Tour based on her seventh studio album. So far, it has grossed over $44 million worldwide. Similar to Taylor’s approach, Beyoncé signed a distribution agreement with AMC Theatres. The two releases, though built for different genres and different fan bases, marked the first time that two different concert films debuted at the top of the box office in the same year.

This is not Beyoncé’s first concert film; she already released the hit Homecoming: A Film by Beyoncé in 2019. Homecoming was a masterclass in the pursuit of perfection, but Renaissance shows us a more organic side of an entertainer letting go of the pressures of living up to expectations. The show included nostalgic elements like a brief Destiny’s Child reunion, performances from artists like Diana Ross and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as the stage debut of Beyoncé’s first-born, Blue Ivy.

So, Are Concert Films Back?

The truth is, they never really left. In the 2010s, there was an uptick in concert films with movies like Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and One Direction: This is Us, followed by a downward slope in the following decade. Bey and Taylor have simply reignited a flame that never really died. 2023 also saw international K-pop boyband BTS release their concert film BTS: Yet to Come which has raked in over $29 million worldwide. As an honourable mention, Martin Scorsese’s Last Waltz was back in theatres for its 45^th anniversary in October 2023.

Concert films rely heavily on the fan bases of each given artist, so as a genre, their popularity are prone to fluctuation. Regardless, 2023 showed us that concert films still have a lot of untapped potential. What’s the next concert movie you plan to see?

Also Read: From Silent Films to Soundtracks: The Evolution and Impact of Music in Cinema

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Today we will explore film’s relationship to music. To do this we will briefly look at the history of film score development. We will then discuss the ways music is used within films. Before finally looking at how music can impact audiences.

Film’s Musical Beginnings

While early films were silent they had live musical accompaniment. Sources differ on whether music was originally used for marketing, aesthetic, or noise masking purposes. Whatever the reason music quickly became entwined with film screenings. Live film scores were typically improvised or performed using existing tunes. Eventually, production companies began sending cue sheets to suggest the type of music that should play during particular scenes. The earliest original accompanying film score was featured in The Assassination of the Duke of Guise (1908). 

Live music quickly faded when sound cinema emerged. However many early sound films had trouble adapting to the new technology needed for sound and so restricted the use of music. That changed when composer Max Steiner made a full-length orchestral score for King Kong (1933).

Each subsequent decade brought new advancements and experiments. The 40s and 50s saw the popularisation of jazz music. Which made films like A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) seem more modern. Forbidden Planet (1956) also became the first sci-fi film to have an electronic score. Additionally, this time saw orchestral scores decrease, mostly being reserved for big-budget projects.

The 60s showcased how popular songs could effectively emphasise action (The Graduate (1967)) and experimented with different musical tools (Ennio Morricone’s Dollars trilogy score). The 70s saw the rise of synthesizers, allowing lone creators to create full scores (Dark Star (1974)). Orchestral scores also made a broad return (Star Wars (1977)). And with the expansion of computer technology since the 80s and the internet’s development we have seen diverse experimentation with what can make up film music.

For example, Junkie XL uses different hardware and instruments to create eclectic scores for movies like Deadpool (2016). Meanwhile, Hans Zimmer influenced many modern scores through his wall-of-sound style and blending of orchestral, electronic and recorded elements.

Highs and Lows 

With everything that goes into making film music what functions do they serve? Composer Aaron Copland listed 5 functions they can have:

• Establish time and place – Inform us about the story’s genre and setting. While also helping build atmosphere.
• Underline characters’ interiority – Communicate a character’s thoughts and psychology. 
• Background filler – Comment on what the audience is seeing and enliven the film’s pace.
• Build continuity – Help to connect seemingly disparate scenes.
• Create dynamic shaping and give closure – Drive the narrative forward and provide finality to the film, characters, and plot strands.

Robin Hoffmann has since expanded on this list, by discussing how music can:

• Manipulate – Trick the audience’s emotions in service of the story.
• Create contradictions – Produce unexpected audience reactions by using music that may not match a scene’s tone.
• Psychologically condition – Elicit a primal emotional response and encourage the same reaction to similar work.

The Universal Language

Of course, the ultimate goal of film music is to impact audiences emotionally. So how does it accomplish these goals?

Research has shown that music helps to stimulate brain activity, particularly the parts of the brain that process emotions and control memory. Therefore when film music is being constructed it can use cultural signifiers that audiences recognise or techniques that appeal to instincts (e.g. high pitches and a fast pace can indicate danger) to generate an emotional reaction from audiences.

But music also affects film audiences through its enhancement of narrative elements. It can help us feel more connected to the characters, as it immerses us in their world and allows us to not just hear what characters say and see what they do but experience how they feel. Helping viewers feel more intimately involved in the story.

Additionally, it can encourage personal analysis of a film’s themes through its repeated deployment of themes and motifs which prompt questions as to the meaning behind their repeated use. Film music engages audiences physically, intellectually, and emotionally. There is a reason it is one of cinema’s most powerful tools.

Also Read: Great Dance Moments In Non-Musical Films

The post From Silent Films to Soundtracks: The Evolution and Impact of Music in Cinema appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

The man, the myth, the legend!

Director Eric Appel (Silicon Valley, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) takes you back to the 1980s. The young Alfred Matthew Yankovic (Richard Aaron Anderson) dreams of becoming one of the most outstanding musicians and accordion players the world has ever known. Not by writing his songs but by changing the lyrics of already written ones to ‘make them better. While he wants to pursue this dream from a very young age, he has to keep it hidden because of his unsupportive parents (Julianne Nicholson and Toby Huss). When he’s finally able to leave the house and move in with some housemates, his musical life is about to take off enormously. When making a bologna sandwich, “Weird Al” (Daniel Radcliffe) hears the song ‘My Sharona’ on the radio, and you can already guess what happens next. Yes, Yankovic’s first hit, ‘My Bologna’, becomes a thing!

The song skyrockets Al and his roommates/musicians, and he can take on any song he wants. Finally, “Weird Al” reaches the success he only dreamed of, and at first, he still keeps his feet on the ground and stays the humble but highly talented musician. However, when his fame rises even more, “Weird Al” becomes an arrogant man, an abuser of many substances and a musician who’s taken advantage of, especially by his girlfriend, Madonna (Evan Rachel Wood). It doesn’t take long before Yankovic his career hits rock bottom. Will he find his way out and become the hilarious and unique musician again, or will his arrogance and bad influence be his doom?

A large than life biopic that runs with the truth

Another reason Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is unlike any other biopic you’ve seen is because the film runs with the truth. While there might be some truthful aspects to this, much of the storyline is entirely fictional. It fits the man, the musician and the legend perfectly well. From the broken relationship with his parents to having to suppress his musical talent, from becoming a rising star to struggling with addiction, it’s all brought to life in the most fictional, entertaining and eccentric way. The story is written to constantly bombard you with hilarious moments, witty conversations and well-known parodies.

The on-point acting performances are also why you should put this film on your to-watch list. Normally when casting someone for a biopic, you at least try to cast an actor/actress that resembles the performer. Well, that’s not the case in this movie. Radcliffe (Escape from Pretoria, Swiss Army Man) looks nothing like “Weird Al”, but who knew that a wig and a fake moustache could do so much! Radcliffe embodies “Weird Al” stunningly with a perfect comedic, emotional and exhilarating performance. He brings a lot of power and energy to this movie and delivers every line (no matter how ridiculous) with fierceness and passion.

While Wood (Kajillionaire, Into the Forest) only makes her first appearance mid-movie, she leaves a lasting impression. She portrays Madonna with humour, rock ‘n roll and charisma. She captures the mannerisms and the personality of the Queen of pop freakishly good! There are also many other guest appearances, all equally brilliant and hilarious, but we don’t want to tell you which one cause they’re too good to spoil.

We can see why “Weird Al” gave his stamp of approval!

When making a biopic, you want the stamp of approval from the artist/performer, and Appel gets the best one you can get. “Weird Al” co-wrote this story and blessed this hilarious homage in the best way possible. We understand why! While Weird: The Al Yankovic Story might not be to everyone’s taste (just like the music itself), it still provides you with enough weirdness, top-notch humour and stunning acting performance to enjoy “Weird Al” his biggest parody to date yet.

Rating: (4 / 5)

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is now available on Roku

Also Read: Will We Ever See These Celebrity Biopics?

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Today we’ll look at the different techniques used in trailer production, the various ways trailers present film stories, and whether different rules must be considered when creating trailers for standalone and franchise films, to see how trailers (across genres) work to entice audiences. And if these practices help their reception.

Too Much or Not Enough

One common complaint about trailers is that they reveal too much plot information or give away the film’s best parts. For example, the trailer for 2019’s Black Christmas remake effectively showed the film’s entire plot, including the ending. It seems baffling but trailers often spoil films so the story can grab the audience’s attention in a crowded market. Unfortunately sacrificing the narrative’s surprise factor for ticket sales.

The obvious solution is to show less. And there are some great trailers that focus more on establishing mood than story e.g. A Clockwork Orange and Alien. However, sometimes trailers obscuring a movie’s content can lead to the film being misrepresented which can confuse viewers. For example, Sweeney Todd’s trailer prompted complaints from cinemagoers for not sufficiently showing that it was a musical. Trailers, therefore, are constantly attempting to try and reveal just enough information to entice audiences without spoiling everything.

Standalone Vs Franchises

Many may also think that it’s comparatively easier to market a franchise over a standalone film. As franchise films already have an inbuilt audience. Whereas standalone films don’t. Meaning they must work harder to reach an audience. That said, franchise films still need to give audiences a reason to return. And marketing a film based on prior successes doesn’t necessarily encourage new viewers.

Some great franchise trailers that get around this are the trailers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Endgame. Both have moments made to appeal to series fans. They also give some information about the franchise to provide context for general audiences while also leaving out a lot of specific plot information to entice viewers to see the films. Thus like their standalone counterparts, franchise trailers also need to hook their audience while preserving an air of mystery.

Making A Trailer

Beyond story content, there are other trailer production elements that impact audience perception. Researcher Ping Feng compared many trailers for financially successful films across several genres between the 1950s and 2010s. They found that the average shot length of trailers has been decreasing over the decades. Modern trailers also include a lot of movement within the frame (shorter shots contain more motion) and many successful trailers throughout the years had a lot of camera motion. Which is done to keep an audience’s attention.

And trailers are also cut to a soundtrack. Generally, the music/soundscape also evokes the story’s genre. Although sometimes trailers will use contrapuntal sounds that go against what you would expect to make them stand out (the Clockwork Orange trailer melds the upbeat William Tell overture with images of harsh violence). It’s an effective technique that heightens viewer engagement and emotion.

Sometimes though the use of music and overcutting can be distracting. The use of popular songs and the growing trend of genre-specific song covers sometimes comes across as an indulgence rather than being a fitting aesthetic choice. And the short shot length and constant motion can be very exhausting for viewers. It also allows little time to take in information while also demonstrating a lack of faith in the audience’s attention span.

The Formula

Based on the information provided the best way to ensure a trailer sticks with audiences, whether it’s an independent self-contained film or a multimillion-dollar franchise entry, is to not overdo everything. Audiences should leave a trailer knowing enough to be interested. But not enough to ruin the experience. Movement can create a lot of excitement but too much can be overwhelming. And music should serve the atmosphere of the trailer. Not just play on an audience’s fondness for a song. When these methods are employed trailers can be works of art in their own right.

Also Read: The Formula For A Successful Film

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As most filmmakers do, Dolan knows that good music can make or break a film and that a well-timed needle drop (defined as dropping “the right song at the right moment” in a movie) can clinch it. Since the beginning, music and film have been closely linked with pianists accompanying silent movies with pieces written explicitly for each. Then, of course, there are those famous movie songs; “Moon River”, “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”, or “Let It Go”, for example. These were all written with the movie in mind, to fit with its style and tone. But taking pre-existing music, with a context and lifeblood all of its own, and trying to give it new meaning within a different medium is something else entirely. 

Take, for example, Lorene Scafaria’s modern masterpiece Hustlers. Its needle drops include Janet Jackson (twice), Britney Spears, Fiona Apple, and Rihanna. In a story that considers the disproportionate reactions women, namely strippers, face when committing crimes vs. the white-collar criminals on Wall Street, the music used brings into question the idea of femininity within the culture. Jackson was blacklisted after a wardrobe malfunction during the 2004 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Her male co-performer, Justin Timberlake – who, arguably, was more at fault – received 5 Grammy nominations mere weeks later. Timberlake, funnily enough, contributed to Spear’s public shaming, too, claiming her virginal image was purely constructed. But, as those who watched the recent documentary will know, Timberlake was not the only man whose fingerprints appeared on the guide ropes of Britney’s public breakdown in 2007. As for both Apple, a ‘90s feminist icon, and Rihanna, a contemporary pop star too often shamed for her powerful sexuality, their music serves as an example that, no matter how you present yourself, women don’t ever seem to please the patriarchy. Their status as symbols is one thing, and that is before you even mention the lyrics to the featured songs, all of which feed into Hustlers’ narrative that Scafaria included specific lyrics within the script itself. Jackson’s opening line to her 1986 hit sets up the movie: “This is a story about control”, which speaks to the autonomy of the women in Hustlers as they try to regain a sense of control amidst the 2008 financial crash. 

Scafaria, like Dolan, may be one of the most forward-thinking when it comes to her needle drops, but many are not far behind. Take Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, a film that features no score or soundtrack until its final moments when the overwhelming sound of Vivaldi’s “Summer” blares into life at a concert. Or in Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, Frances dances down the street with youthful jubilance to Bowie’s “Modern Love”. Or Barbra Lewis’ “Hello Stranger” crooning from a jukebox as Chiron and Kevin are reunited in Moonlight. Or Merab dancing to “Honey” by Robyn, cigarette in hand, for his lover interest Irakli in And Then We Danced. The music in these scenes is like a revelation, a link to the emotion and the feeling the director is trying to portray. Heck, a good needle drop can even make mediocre movies into something a bit better; Spring Breakers’ bizarre montage to Spears’ “Everytime”, Magic Mike XL’s strip tease by Joe Manganiello to “I Want it That Way”, or The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” closing out teen drama Cruel Intentions. 

Secretly, we all do it ourselves. Earphones in on our daily walk, we might play a song that makes us feel like we’re in a movie; or on a long car journey, we’ll look out over the landscape and feel the song on the radio become the soundtrack to our existence. We use music to move through the world, to comprehend it. When we hear a great song, Zadie Smith wrote, we are “in debt to its beauty” and feel an “obligation to repay that debt”. The question is, how? I think it’s in building connections, applying reverence, giving a song a special place within your emotional consciousness and letting it become a part of your narrative. To this day, I can’t listen to Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” or Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide” without returning to the emotions those songs stir in me, without thinking of loss and change. So music, in its mere existence, feeds into our understanding of ourselves. 

It speaks volumes, then – if you’ll pardon the pun – that good music used well can elicit such a response in an audience. It drums up emotion, fondles the heart, and taps the mind to create a metatextual experience. Music brings its baggage with it, and it’s up to the filmmaker to utilise it, as Scafaria and Dolan do so well, to fit within the context of the story they’re telling. We feel the excitement within us when we hear that opening note, and then the required emotion comes flooding in. 

Also Read: How Film Changed Me: On BFI Flare

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Welcome to Ibiza!

Sunny beaches, ecstatic people dressed in fewer clothes as possible, luxury yachts and private planes. This might be the most common idea of Ibiza. It seems that according to the beginning of this film, that idea is just pure reality. However, it doesn’t take long before Temple will try to convince us otherwise. Everything you know about Ibiza might not be so true at all and “Ibiza: The Silent Movie” will prove that to you. Opening with the start of Ibiza after continents Africa and Europe came together to the first inhabitants called the Phoenicians. They named the island after their God of the dance, Bes (English translation: Ibiza).

The first few minutes of this movie cover thousands of years of “history” and it gives you a pretty good idea of how this film will develop. Divided into different smaller chapters, each about a unique topic. Every chapter is filled with (fake) historic facts, old footage and more recent videos about the party people of Ibiza. Just like the pictures used in this film, the chapters are immensely diverse:  From the possibility of a UFO on Ibiza, to the World War Two, to the Spanish Civil War and to the rise of the vibrant clubs. While watching “Ibiza: The Silent Movie”, you’ll get to see Ibiza in its entire form. Now you just have to find out what’s real and what’s not.

Real or not real? That’s the question

That “real or fake” element is what makes from “Ibiza: The Silent Movie” both an interesting as well as an immensely complicated film. Because of the fact it doesn’t matter what happened and what did not (it’s for the audience to figure this out after all), it feels like director Temple and his team just threw everything together what they could find or create about Ibiza. Images, videos and (fake) historic facts, it’s all there. There might be some storyline (due to the usage of time indications) in “Ibiza: The Silent Movie” but the film often feels like an extremely long music video. This is not unexpected as Temple is known for his music video for bands such as Babyshambles, Scissor Sisters, and Blur. However, this time it’s a video that consists of incoherent and randomly chosen footage.

A silent movie? Don’t think so

With “Ibiza: The Silent Movie”, the filmmakers want to go back to the roots of film by using almost no spoken words (apart from the very brief interviews with the residents). Sadly, that homage is being washed away by the Mediterranean Sea. The written words, which have to replace the spoken ones, don’t make sense at all and the usage of modern emotions is just totally out of place and incredibly unnecessary.

Perfect but predictable soundtrack

You might start to wonder if “Ibiza: The Silent Movie” has nothing good to offer. No worries, it has. The music is the most positive element from this movie. Ok yes, surely some might say that the soundtrack is predictable but hey, the makers just want to use the most famous, fitting and upbeat songs that you can hear during every party in Ibiza. Whether it’s dance music, pop, house or techno. Honestly, it’s a big relief to hear other music once in a while as well in this movie such as rock, blues, and hip-hop. If you just listen to this film without watching it, you can have an amazing party on your own. Just grab a beer, put your headphones and you’re ready to go!

A trip to Ibiza we want to relive?

“Whoah! We’re going to Ibiza. Whoah! Back to the island. Whoah! We’re gonna have a party”. Seems Vengaboys were always up for a holiday in Ibiza. Not sure if we are tough. If we would decide to go back to pleasure island, then we hope that we’re going to have a better time than we had while watching this film. “Ibiza: The Silent Movie” might not have been our taste but if you want to see an eclectic film with loads of sunshine, upbeat music, and beautiful people, then this is a stunning movie for you.

Rating: (2.5 / 5)

“Ibiza: The Silent Movie” is available on BBC iPlayer until the 1st September 2019.

Also Read: Review: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

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Also note – One of the scenes deals with suicide.

2001: A Space Odyssey famously has nearly fifty minutes with no dialogue at the start, with the monkeys’ evolution and the end, with Dave’s evolution. Few filmmakers are that brave or talented to pull that off but a lot have had a go on a smaller scale, here are some of the best scenes with no dialogue (or nearly no dialogue).

Kill Bill Vol 2 – Coffin Scene

This scene starts with the Bride buried in a coffin by one of the men she went to kill, and after watching a scene of her being trained by martial arts master Pei May we see her attempt to escape from this seemingly fatal trap.

The Bride calms herself and slowly sets about her escape. She cuts her ropes and does what should be impossible and punches her way out of a coffin. If it had not been for the previous scene in which she was trained to punch through solid wood at a short distance I would have hated this scene but we know this is possible for her, it obeys the logic of its own world. The Bride’s resilience even as her knuckles bleed and dirt starts pouring into the coffin is amazing.

Music – L’Arena by Ennio Morricone.

Only dialogue -“Come on, you bitch” & “Okay Pai Mei, here I come”

Baby Driver – Opening Chase Scene

This is six minutes with arguably no dialogue whatsoever that transfers from a perfect lip-synch sing-along of the music Baby is listening to what for me is the most impressive car chase ever filmed. The best part of the whole scene is not the seemingly impossible stunts but the look on Jon Bernthal’s face when he gets in the car, points forward and the car takes off in reverse. This whole article could be about how Edgar Wright brilliantly uses music in this film with at times it is almost a musical but this one scene sums all of his techniques very well.

Music – Bell Bottoms by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Dialogue – Jon Bernthal repeating “whoa” and you overhear “a red Subaru” on a police radio

Royal Tennenbaums – Attempted Suicide

In Luke Wilson’s best role as Ritchie Tennenbaum, he plays a man trapped in the past, stuck in a look he has had for decades and after receiving some news about the woman he loves he has a breakdown. Before actually attempting suicide Ritchie drastically changes how he looks, cutting off his long hair and beard, removing the sports clothing he wore when he was a professional athlete. The scene shows his discovery by Dudley, his arrival at the hospital and his various family members rushing to his side.

Music – Needle in the Hay by Elliott Smith – the scene becomes even more tragic when you know that Elliott took his own life just a few years after this film was released.

Dialogue – “I’m going to kill myself tomorrow” & “Dudley, where is he?” “Who?”

The Big Lebowski – Dream Sequence

One of my all-time favourite scenes, an extravagant over the top dream sequence of what would possibly be the most ambitious pornography ever made. The Coen Brothers bring a fantastic eye for perfect costumes, precision movement and stunning cinematography. You can see the love of musicals that they expanded on in Hail Caesar!

Of course, then it turns into an absolutely horrific nightmare version of what the gang of nihilists threatened to do to him.

Music: Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) by Kenny Rogers

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night – Playing Record Scene

Quite simply A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is the best Persian-language vampire western you’re ever going to see. The story of the music-loving vampire as she deals with life in a wretched ghost-town is brilliantly told and this scene is particularly memorable. Not only is nothing at all said very little actually happens but the scene is mesmerising. It plays with the old idea of a vampire giving in to their desires and you can’t be sure whether the vampire will rip out the man’s throat or kiss him and there is genuine tension.

Music: Death by White Lies

Note: Even though the man is wearing a Dracula-like cape the woman is the vampire.

No Country For Old Men – Hotel Confrontation

This film has a number of scenes of unbelievable tension and one of them is Josh Brolin slowly waiting for his attacker in his hotel room. The attacker, Chigurh, is only glimpsed for most of the scene and at times is almost an invisible attacker.

Music – None – this is the only scene I selected in which there is no music that helps cover up the silence. We hear breathing, footsteps, gunshots, glass shattering and cars braking but that’s about it.

Note – The Coens Brothers second appearance on this list is a good demonstration of the scope of their work, one film a stoner comedy come noir detective story and an incredibly tense thriller. Is there anything they can’t do?

Dialogue – “Don’t worry I ain’t gonna hurt you, I just need you to drive me” right before the guy dies.

Also Read: Movie Marketing: Films That Thought Outside The Box

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