CAREFUL (Guy Maddin, 1992)

Guy Maddin uses sounds and their absence in his movie Careful to emphasize the importance of silence by invoking viewers’ emotions and foreshadowing characters futures.

At the beginning of the film, after the narrator has explained why the mountain inhabitants are able to be loud in certain places, we see a student concert with horns. The music matches the flowers in the background and the love-struck eyes of the protagonists. Were the music solemn or warlike, the glances thrown by the two radiant youngsters would seem forbidden, causing the viewer to anticipate disaster. Because the music is lively and joyous, however, one begins to experience the dances in fields of flowers and long talks in the cave between the two hormone-driven characters. The clichéd emotions make prediction and familiarity easy for viewers, allowing Guy Maddin to direct their attentions to more bizarre occurrences.

While the students continue playing, the camera cuts from the concert to a room where a man sits in a chair watching the concert with binoculars. The lack of a sound bridge between the performance and the man in the room jars the viewer. Even more jolting is that there is no noise except the ambient sound of his room once the camera cuts to the man in the chair, though one can still see the concert through his binoculars. This dearth of continuity indicates the significance of its silence. As we find out later, Franz is mute and unable to move from his attic-room chair throughout the film. In comparison to the roles the other characters play, he and the other survivor in the film seem inferior. However, that he and Sigleinde (the other not to perish) speak the fewest lines, both foreshadowing their futures while also demonstrating that being quiet and careful is imperative.

Finally, at the turning point of the film, Maddin combines all three aspects of sound usage superbly. Johann spikes his mother’s drink in what seems to be an effort to seduce her or render her unconscious; the intent is a tad unclear. As he stands over her passed-out body with a pair of damned hedge cutters and a possessed look on his face, the camera cuts to a dog, somewhere, that tries to bark. Since its vocal chords have been cut, the only noise it makes is a clacking with its teeth. The fact that the dog can’t actually warn anyone emphasizes Johann’s mother’s helplessness. Also, a barking dog is immediately associated with danger and an attempt to warn others, telling the viewer that no good is to come to Johann once he acts. In this film’s mountain society, silence counsels more clearly than any other caution, including apparitions, dreams, lectures, and pleas. Thus, if anyone had been careful enough to listen attentively to the silence, the admonition would have essentially saved the entire society.

In Careful, Guy Maddin creates a world that is constantly in fear of bringing about its own destruction through the expression of sound. This world is an ideal location to look at the power that comes with sound in our own world. Maddin manipulates amplitude, develops characters with sound, and employs conspicuous omission to create and enhance this world where sound is a way to show dominance over nature.

Early in the film, Johann falls in love with his mother. While the ghost of Johann’s father directly states this plot point, Maddin depicts it just as clearly through the modulation of amplitude. After Johann falls in love, he constantly finds himself staring at his mother; the soundtrack reflects this by greatly magnifying the Foley-created sounds of her swallowing at dinner. This magnification gives the infatuation more depth than it could ever attain if it was given only through dialogue. This effect shows a power over nature by furthering the ideas of incest, a sexual reality that is considered against nature and the ways of modern life.

Count Knotkers, the illusive man of great power who lives in a castle above Tolzbad, displays his supremacy not only through his position in society but also through his powerful voice; in a town where all are afraid of all noise, a powerful voice demands a great deal of respect. Knotkers shows supremacy above even nature with his voice. Again, Maddin’s use of sound adds a great deal of depth to the film, illustrating his strength in the medium.

During the film’s sound-related climax, Johann fires a gun into the air, destroying not only the mountain town but also the lives of his love Klara and her father. The entire soundtrack and a large portion of the movie itself, builds up to this moment when he finally breaks the fear of noise. Maddin orchestrates the scene brilliantly by dropping out all other noise and delaying the sound of the avalanche to build suspense. The conspicuous omission of the avalanche immediately after the gunshots forces the viewer to realize what has just happened and question if the fear of sound was needless. Johann shows an absolute power over nature by ignoring all of the silence of nature and purposefully creating the one thing that the villagers feared above all others: noise. The film then ends powerfully with the inevitable avalanche. Maddin’s masterwork of avant-garde filmmaking combines artistic imagery with a brilliant soundtrack to create a world and meaning that is infinitely deeper than the quirky plotline and bizarre characters.

In Careful, Guy Maddin utilizes very unique sound elements to emphasize very strange relationships. In one particular scene, we are presented with a parent and child relationship gone awry. In this scene, Johann acts out this lust for his mother and faces the consequences in his mind. Maddin uses musical score, foley, volume, and an extreme absence of sound to draw attention to the immoral feelings Johan has for his mother.

The scene begins with a female voice giving instructions about being careful and not spilling while Johann cooks up his potion. When he delivers it to his mother, all is silent. However, the sound of her swallowing the drink becomes unbelievably loud. Similarly, we hear the incredibly loud sound of Johann cutting away is mother’s clothes a little later in the scene. Then, Maddin uses a sound bridge by introducing a growing rumble sound while looking at the cut fabric, then the shot cuts to the actual sound of the rumble, which is fog coming off the mountain. When we see Johan again, we don’t hear the sound of the falling scissors like we should, but we do hear the sound of burning flesh as he touches the hot iron to his lips. We hear the same sound echo throughout the mountain. And finally, as he is running in the last moments of his life, we hear a Twilight Zone-type of music that incorporates both high pitches sounds with low frequency sounds that add the final touch of ambiguity of Johann’s situation.

The most striking element used was the volume of foley. We are made to hear Johann poisoning his mother as she drinks and the sound of his burning lips as he punishes himself for his immoral thoughts. If these were not the only sounds present, they may have gotten lost in the scene. Instead, it’s almost disturbing. The sound bridge links the thoughts inside his head with the outside world. He now believes the mountain can see what’s happening and is alerting others of his sin. Finally, the music is a perfect ending to the scene. It is a typical Twilight Zone-type suspense score that grows louder as he runs. The low frequency sound in it suggests his anxiety about what he had just done while the high pitch tones shows the tension going on his head. All of these elements allow the viewer to experience the situation through the deranged mind of Johann.

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Last update: 8/27/2004