Transcription
Presented by Squarespace. This is the most classic quiet scene in film history. In "Spirited Away," protagonist Chihiro boards a train that travels through the spirit world. After the bustling bathhouse, the tranquility of this scene is like waking from a dream. For the next minute and a half, we journey with her. This scene has no plot, only scenery and thoughts. It is a moment to contemplate life. This kind of quiet is not uncommon in Hollywood. In the 1982 film "Conan the Barbarian," there are many scenes of traversing the wilderness. In these shots, the film sets the story aside to focus on showcasing the scenery. Conan is silent for the first 23 minutes of the film. His first line, therefore, became a classic. "Crush your enemies, see them driven before you," "and hear the lamentation of their women." In the 1978 film "Superman," a young Clark says goodbye to his mother. A scene lasting nearly three minutes is, for the most part, composed of long takes. Simple dialogue serves only as embellishment, and even the destination does not harm the plot. The oil-painting-like visuals, the language of the body, and the slow narrative rhythm are enough to tell the story. However, it seems we have forgotten the feeling of quiet today. In this scene from "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," the Wasp recounts her story of becoming friends with the villain. The quiet scene allows emotions to be expressed. "I told her I would come home." However, they make no moves, sitting down, with only dialogue in the entire scene. "We will go back." Not only that, but this scene is also filled with useless voiceovers. "I saw his inner self." "I felt... what he did." "The whole world... the whole timeline... all disappeared." "As if it never existed." Every word she speaks explains the visuals. Even if we closed our eyes, we could understand the plot. This situation is all too common in Hollywood today. In films I like... "You know... I lost a family after you left." "I was lucky enough to find another home." "I hope you can find your place too." It also happens in films I consider excellent. "So... I want to call her Lila." "Lila, that's a beautiful name." This movie is incessantly talkative. Why? [ Part 1 ] Among the quiet scenes in Hollywood, my favorite is the ten minutes before the Battle of Helm's Deep. In the distance, the Orc army approaches. Wind, lightning, rain... The characters are silent, but the visuals are very loud. "Doom is coming," the film announces. The silent tone creates a sense of oppression. The battle, therefore, appears even more intense. This silence brings us classic suspenseful plots, spectacular action sequences, and astonishing scenes of destruction. Of course, a lot of dialogue is not necessarily bad. Explaining information also has its uses. "The terminal is isolated within the black vault." "Those with authorization need to go through various security checks to enter and exit." The essence of spy films is the arrangement of infiltration plans. "The third system is a pressure sensor on the floor." "Even the slightest pressure will trigger an alarm." Direct explanations ensure the clarity of the game rules. This way, when characters break the rules, it becomes exceptionally thrilling. However, after the infiltration begins, the film is equally quiet. Dialogue can also be interesting. "Drive. Go to your mom's. Kill Phil. Find Liz." "Go to Winchester, have a cold pint, and wait for it all to blow over." Although "Shaun of the Dead" is very noisy, it also has quiet moments. "Then we'll be extra quiet." In other words, my dissatisfaction with recent Hollywood films is not about dialogue, but about the lack of ebb and flow in the films. It's like a roller coaster that only goes downhill—without the anticipation of the uphill climb, constantly going downhill is just boring. This is the longest silence in "Inside Out 2," only 30 seconds long. In this scene, Joy is in a desperate situation. Instead of exploring emotions internally, the film expresses feelings externally through language. "Please, I beg you! What did I miss?" Every scene in the movie is talkative. It is quite ironic that a film exploring emotions is unwilling to pause and let us feel them. [ Sponsor ] As the saying(?) goes, showing is better than telling. Business owners, hurry up and build a website with Squarespace. You can't just hand over your resume to clients, right? You need professional, large photos, paired with custom colors and fonts. You need to showcase your brand, your personality. With Squarespace, it's all effortless. Squarespace offers professionally designed pre-made templates to help you get started quickly and achieve your desired results. The editing process is simple and smooth, allowing for high customization even without training. Publish photos, videos, and open an online store. If you have any questions, the help center has tutorials to assist you. Go to squarespace.com/accentedcinema to start your free trial. Use code ACCENTEDCINEMA for a 10% discount. Stop relying on social media to promote yourself. Impress clients with a website. Visit squarespace.com/accentedcinema now! [ Part 2 ] "They can fly?" Yes, we all saw it. "It healed itself?" Yes! We're not blind! "So what are we... the Suicide Squad?" "Show, don't tell" is a fundamental principle of writing. However, many films fail to achieve this. Are Hollywood screenwriters second-rate? "This is Katana, say my bodyguard." "Don't let her kill you. Her sword traps the souls of the dead." I don't think the answer is that. These incessantly chattering lines are intentional. Has everyone ever wondered why Netflix movies all feel... the same? "We just met." "We spent a day together." "I admit it was a beautiful day, filled with magnificent scenery and romantic rain," "but that doesn't give you the right to question my life choices." "Tomorrow I'm marrying Paul Kennedy." Author Will Taflin wrote in n+1 magazine that streaming platform executives often tell screenwriters to "have the character say what they are doing" and "to allow viewers who treat the show as background noise to follow the plot." In other words, streaming productions are background noise played while working, gaming, scrolling through TikTok, or having sex. Films are placed on secondary screens, and viewers only glance at them occasionally... much like you are doing now. For streaming, silence means no background noise. Visual storytelling means a disjointed plot. Once this happens, viewers might switch to another movie, or even another activity. The immersion of a film is a two-way street. Even the best film cannot immerse a distracted viewer. Therefore, a true cinematic experience can usually only be found in a movie theater. Going to the cinema means the audience is willing to fully invest themselves, letting the film guide them, rather than exploring at their own pace. Unfortunately, this experience is dying, because North American cinemas are dying. [ Part 3 ] Let's assume this: You and your partner are on a date night in an American city. You plan to go to the cinema. Public transportation in America is underdeveloped, so you have to drive. Fortunately, the mall you're going to is almost defunct, and parking spaces are everywhere. Two movie tickets cost $30, which is more than your hourly wage. You decide not to buy snacks. The half-empty cinema, the experience is okay. But after the movie, you and your partner can't find a place to sit and chat. Multiplexes are mostly located in malls, because malls used to be public squares. People could hang out there without spending money. It was a place to relax. But now, malls have declined. So, you either spend money at a bar or restaurant, or drive home. Driving along the highway, you think... Why does everything feel like a chore? This is the death of public space. We used to be able to go to the cinema casually. We could arrive on site and then decide what movie to watch. If there was no movie we liked, we could leave and find entertainment elsewhere, like at an arcade. But now, "elsewhere" is scarce. Decades of car-centric road design and low-density living have segmented our lives. Going out means driving to a specific location, isolated from the outside world along the way. Consumerism has turned public swimming pools into private ones. Reduced government funding even threatens public libraries. Stagnant wages make it impossible for people to afford public spaces. Everything has become expensive. Going out has become a luxury. People no longer utilize these spaces, and a sense of responsibility to the community disappears, and people's behavior reflects this mindset. According to Forbes, over 1,200 malls have closed in the US in the past 20 years. Cinemas are disappearing in the same way. Cinemas are dying because everything around them is dying. In 2020, a global pandemic sent the world into lockdown, accelerating the demise of public spaces. Since then, store hours have shortened, and the cost of going out has significantly increased. Movie box office and ticket sales have plummeted accordingly, failing to recover to pre-pandemic levels. This is also why the film industry's struggles are limited to North America. Despite the rise of short videos, cinemas in India and China are still developing normally. Audiences don't find streaming better than cinemas. It's because people have lost the motivation to go out. Today, the closest thing to a public square is the internet. We post movie reviews there, and "chat with people" there. We are gradually losing the real world. Film companies have recognized the change and shifted their focus to streaming. Disney+, Paramount+, HBO MAX, each company has its own streaming service. This is a repeat of Hollywood's past vertical integration. Distribution and exhibition belong to one entity, and today's film production is centered around streaming. Silence is dead. [ Conclusion ] The most regrettable thing is that too many of us have accepted this norm. We always feel that every public space must have an economic imperative. Everything must make money. This idea affects education, public transportation, housing, healthcare, television broadcasting, and even art. Everything is for money, not for people. Since art rarely makes a profit, all we get is content without nutritional value. We get junk food that is consumed and forgotten. We get noise that suppresses silence. After all, when life is so barren, who will contemplate life?