Prelude to Tragedy is the first in a six-part BBC documentary on The Spanish Civil War directed by John Blake and first broadcast in 1987. The film examines the five years before the start of the civil conflict. The film shows stock footage, interview footage, and talks to surviving figures about what lead to one of the bloodiest civil disputes in all of Europe. The following post will discuss how sound and music is used throughout to create a fascinating portrait on the origins of this civil dispute.
Music and sound effects are interspersed throughout the film. The film achieves some of its key dramatic moments when music and sound effects are put together with the moving image, creating a portrait that sticks with the viewer.
An example of the abovementioned point is the film’s first scene. A peasant farm where a shepherd tends to a flock of sheep is transformed into a key moment of suspense because, the viewer, via the sound of the footage mixed in with the tense music score, is put through suspense as to what exactly the film will be about. The director elicited suspense on the viewer’s part by his usage of sound and music in an ordinary situation. Take the music away, and you have a mundane scene. It is the way music is used, as in the example of the first scene, that affects the overall tone of the film throughout.
Stock footage of key political figures is mixed in with the tense score. A narrator (Frank Finlay) acts as a voice of God in by giving out the cold hard facts about the war. The viewer is transfixed and easily settles into a fascinating yet informative document about a largely misunderstood or forgotten event in the history of Europe.
The documentary would've been talking heads and facts had it not been for sound and music.
The score employs string arrangements similar to Kurosawa's Ran in its total manipulation of the viewer. It brings into the history of the country from 1931-1936, and whenever a pivotal event is told, such as the winning of the 1933 elections by Jose Maria Gil Robles' Right-wing CEDA group, the score would swell and literally jolt the viewer into feeling the collective sentiment of the people at that time. Spain was under the Leftist Second Republic at that time, so the score would use exploit a depressive tone in a moment of catharsis such as Gil Robles' victory.
It's hard to describe the sentiment without going back to films that reminded me of the catharsis presented through sound. However, going back to Ran, if you remember the battle sequence when Lord Hidetora (memory is failing me at the moment) is forced from his kingdom, it was entirely silent, with only a string arrangement score playing as the actors and extras waged a brutally depicted war in the film. The catharsis felt in a masterpiece scene like that one is similar to what I felt watching The Spanish Civil War.
2 comments:
Hmmm, I'm not sure that these observations about sound and music actually illuminate anything about the film. Simply stating that the music creates "a portrait that sticks with the viewer" isn't telling me anything very specific...
The documentary would've been talking heads and facts had it not been for sound and music.
The score employs string arrangements similar to Kurosawa's Ran in its total manipulation of the viewer. It brings into the history of the country from 1931-1936, and whenever a pivotal event is told, such as the winning of the 1933 elections by Jose Maria Gil Robles' Right-wing CEDA group, the score would swell and literally jolt the viewer into feeling the collective sentiment of the people at that time. Spain was under the Leftist Second Republic at that time, so the score would use exploit a depressive tone in a moment of catharsis such as Gil Robles' victory.
It's hard to describe the sentiment without going back to films that reminded me of the catharsis presented through sound. However, going back to Ran, if you remember the battle sequence when Lord Hidetora (memory is failing me at the moment) is forced from his kingdom, it was entirely silent, with only a string arrangement score playing as the actors and extras waged a brutally depicted war in the film. The catharsis felt in a masterpiece scene like that one is similar to what I felt watching The Spanish Civil War.
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