The absence of a soundtrack
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How the movie Museum Hours changed the way I perceive movies.
Recently I had the choice of 6 movies to watch for a class I’m taking over the summer. None of them honestly piqued my interest, some were dramas, and some were love story-based. But the name Museum Hours grabbed my attention and changed how I thought about movies and storytelling.
This was all thanks to the lack of a soundtrack.
The absence of music when watching Museum Hours impacted me differently.
I’m such a soundtrack person, I’ve been one for years. My life is a movie. We’ve heard that, but kidding aside, it does feel like it is though sometimes right? We’ve all had these moments whether it’s delivering an important speech or going on a cute date. Moments of our lives are and feel cinematic. So listening to the Karate Kid soundtrack while doing planks at midnight gives me that much more motivation. I can picture Mr. Miyagi motivating me now.
“Camden-san. Inside You Have Strong Root. No Need Nothing Except What Inside You To Grow.”
Music is music. So if I just hear an absolute banger of a song when watching a movie, you know I’m circling back to the soundtrack on Spotify the day after. It’s the reason why I still listen to Spiderman in the Spiderverse soundtrack three years after. The music is a character that shapes the world we experience while watching, so listening to a soundtrack after, it’s like the music is a part of our own story now, each and every one of us.
But what if we stripped away the music we’ve become so accosted to in movies. Museum Hours wasn’t a documentary but the lack of silence and shot composition decision gave me hints of one. The movie felt so life-like, so realistic because believe it or not, villain music doesn’t play when I beat my brothers in Super Smash Bros. Though I wish it did.
The daily life of Vienna was the melody that showed us the world of Johann and Anne. The movie felt like you were walking through the museum. Quiet noises were amplified and the conversation was hushed and analytical, never screaming. There was a gentleness to the repetition of everyday life, the mundane became a spectacle, one I wanted to experience. Escpiailly learning about how Johann really felt about the museum and the types of the people that pass through.
Museum Hours changed the way I thought about storytelling and cinematography. I think we as viewers easily fall prey to life-like CGI, fancy lighting, and complicated sets. These aren’t bad things but only watching those types of movies got me conditioned to expect a certain type of look or feeling. Don’t get me wrong I’m such a sucker for Marvel Movies or cool 2d animation cuts seen like Attack on Titan, but if everything looked cool, what happens when everything is cool? The story becomes secondary right? Not everything has to be a spectacle or look flashy and this is something I guess I hadn’t given much thought about prior to watching. The director could have gone that route with Museum Hours but they didn’t.
As a viewer, I felt as if I were really in the scene with the characters because it didn’t feel like I was watching a movie, it felt like I was watching two people’s lives intertwine through hardship.
Most of the story was through the narration of Johann but once he met Anne, it felt like the movie started because we got out of his head and get to her he converse and interact with the world. Without a soundtrack that cried when the characters cried and rejoiced when they did, the sound of everyday life and conversation became the soundtrack.
When reading a book, there isn’t a soundtrack so the character and moments within the world create that for you. So without a soundtrack, Museum Hours’ story felt rich and life-like. Allowing the viewer to connect to these moments because while I wish I had my origin story music play when I get out of bed every day, it doesn’t. Sadly…
The absence of a soundtrack made the moments in these characters’ lives relatable and believable. The sound of life isn’t always a melody played with instruments after all…
