Comments on: No words

By: Tam

Tam — Sat, 03 May 2008 14:45:57 +0000

A program I saw as a kid in the 70's. A small child is missing.The parents enlist the aid of a tough cop with special skills and few social graces , to follow the few pieces of evidence left by the kidnappers(?)

The balance of the movie is about the cop chasing everywhere trying to beat the clock,and return the little girl (?). At the end the cop arrives at a hospital (father in a coma!) to update the mother.. The cop is bleeding from his shoulder and generally messed up from an altercation .He draws her behind a bedside curtain for privacy.
.From this point we are watching the characters in silhouette with just quiet piano music playing.. The tragedy and anguish of the silent communication was gripping. Even a kid like me didn't have to ask my Dad what was happening.
The body language was positively eloquent .

Anyone remember it?

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:29:24 +0000

Kurasowa's battle scene in "Ran" The way the battle is played out...without sound effects or dialogue, just the music. It plays out like a ballet. Stunning.

By: Mac

Mac — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:58:08 +0000

Angie Dickinson's 10-minute art gallery scene in DePalma's "Dressed To Kill." The plane crash sequence of "Fearless." Almost anything by Jacques Tati.

By: SeattleMoviegoer

SeattleMoviegoer — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 08:52:19 +0000

this was a small, but lovely silent moment in a movie classic that has always impressed me...
in West Side Story–the rumble has taken place, yet on a rooftop some blocks away sits Maria. she has no idea what has taken place. all she knows is that she's in love and will meet her lover soon. she's alone and is caught up in her thoughts. she gets up and begins to dance alone. at first slowly, then she twirls and runs around the roof while Leonard Bernstein's music soars. she is stopped abruptly when one of the gang members arrives to give her the bad news.
this little scene is my favorite in the history of movie musicals, and one of my favorite movie scenes period.

By: Raina

Raina — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:12:31 +0000

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Hush" episode was mentioned several times but no one has mentioned the episode of Buffy where Buffy finds her mom's dead body on the couch. The scene is several minutes long and has no dialogue or music. I've only seen it once but it completely stuck with me.

By: Gail

Gail — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:28:40 +0000

I agree with the thoughts about History of Violence. What could dialogue have added to that? Bravo Cronenberg.

"Heavenly Creatures"- (Spoilers) As the girls kill Melanie Lynsky's mother, director Peter Jackson removes all sound, and replaces it with a quiet musical riff, with simple soft thuds as the brick hits mother. He used the same trick in Fellowship of the Ring with Boromir's death. And it works amazingly well to convey death and sadness.

By: Jeff in NJ

Jeff in NJ — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:23:46 +0000

Or, perhaps the three way sex scene in "A Clockwork Orange" set to William Tell's Overture.

By: Jeff in NJ

Jeff in NJ — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 05:21:53 +0000

First one that came to my mind....Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" One of my all time favs!

By: j-man

j-man — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 04:13:54 +0000

The scene in "Braveheart" where William Wallace gets his revenge against the English for his murdered wife Muron is pretty much without any dialogue. It's a great and pivotal scene.

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 05:36:07 +0000

"Grand Slam". 1960's film. Another heist film that takes place during the height of Rio de Janero's Carnival celebration. Edward G. Robinson, Klaus Kinski, Janet Leigh. The thieves, all hand-picked professionals in their choice specialty, have to somehow break into the Grand Slam 70-series vault that holds a fortune in diamonds. An elaborate sound detection system is circumvented with shaving cream. You get the sense that the actors dare not even breathe out of fear of setting it off during the tense, deliberate and elaborate scene. And you can't go wrong with Edward G. Robinson and Janet Leigh.