the graduate
Music is an important part of every film. Even before there were "talking pictures" the filmmakers used music as background noise to help tell the story. With or without words music can be so powerful that it increases the intensity of the film immensely. Can you imagine Fantasia without all of its classical scores? There are many theories about music in film today. While some believe it adds a lot to film others think that music should never be secondary to images. I believe that the two go hand in hand equally to bring the best of the audio and visual worlds together. Especially now that lyrics have come into play. The words of a song can bring so much more emotion to a scene than dialogue can in certain cases. I have found this amazingly true in The Graduate. Simon and Garfunkel take the concept of music in film to a new level by having the movie explained in their lyrics. To me, "Sound of Silence" becomes the subconscious Ben Braddock. The words of the song delve into his inner self to try to describe his thought and feelings. This paper will interpret the lyrics of "Sounds of Silence" in accordance with The Graduate. This is important because by explicating the lyrics the depth of the film becomes more dynamic.
It is a clear expression of emotion and how without it, we are not healthy people. He becomes more naked, mentally and begins to see other people in their lives and how they too can live in silence. Finally, he arrives, and though he is too late Elaine still runs away with him and gets on that bus. Life is no challenge, just a nuisance, till he gets a slap of life in the face. " Suddenly, he was able to talk (almost) freely with her and the darkness begins to slowly fade away. He realizes that his life of silence does not have to live forever and maybe he is not dead inside after all. To him they were all pawns trapped by silence, not even with a bit of knowledge of how to be released. To him the sound of silence is the end, it means that his life is nothing. For example, on his 21st birthday he just sits at the bottom of the pool wishing he could be anywhere but there with all of those people. I think that the best visual description is the scene where Ben is floating in the pool. The "flash of a neon light" symbolizes this, which occurred in the strip club when Elaine started to cry. " This is why Ben told Elaine of the affair, not to mess everything up, but to fade the silence.
Common topics in this essay:
Sounds Silence,
Fools Silence,
Elaine Throughout,
,
Simon Garfunkel,
Ben Braddock,
Ben Robinson,
sound silence,
Elaine Elaine,
sounds silence,
Sound Silence,
music film,
people talking speaking,
simon garfunkel,
people talking,
subconscious ben,
hearing listening,
fools silence,
neon light,
lyrics sounds silence,
flash neon light,
ben's mind,
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Acceptance Essays
