GTO 3987 on Mulholland

GTO 3987 on Mulholland

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Dialogue as a cinematic contrivance



I have it in mind to make a feature length film without a word of dialogue spoken by the principle actors. This idea is inspired by some very well known films wherein sections of the movie play without spoken dialogue. The opening scenes of Le Samouraï directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon is a good example of this. So is Rififi, a 1955 French crime film directed by blacklisted American filmmaker Jules Dassin. In these speechless passages, it is clear that the characters know what it is they are doing and their thoughts and emotions are evident making words something of a cinematic contrivance rather than a necessity.

This scene from my Point of Departure could easily have been displayed without the voice-over as the downcast, vacant eyes of the actress speak volumes about the despondent mood of the character. She is on a quest to find someone who, likely, will never appear.

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