In Pursuit Of Silence

Silence is golden. That’s what we should take from this interesting but ultimately frustrating documentary.

Director Patrick Shen and cinematographer Brandon Vedder have crafted an exquisite looking film that tries very hard to link some of the pressures and stresses of modern life with the cacophony of sound that is all around us. Taking John Cage’s ‘composition’ 4’.33” as a starting point we are taken through some beautiful images of contemplation, of landscapes and field, only for them to be obliterated by the sound of the road, or train. The point is made and not subtly.

There are some surreal images the staff in the Lloyds Building in London still and quiet for two minutes during Remembrance. And then there is Greg Hindy the ‘silent walker’ crossing America under a vow silence in an attempt to get away from paraphernalia of electronic devices that appear to depend on noise, as much as power to function. Communicating solely through notes he’s almost adrift but the point is solid. The delicate tea ceremony in Kyoto, in its dignity, contemplation of tradition and formality, is sublime.

As one would expect sound is key and used with some manipulation, as it is adjusted to suit an image or a point. There’s a tendency to over-amp for effect which just informs a bias. The thoughts of the contributors about the value of silence, with its historical contexts are stimulating and challenging. That we are now living in society that appears to lack contemplation and is almost subservient to sound and distraction.

However, while this is a film about the comfort of silence, there is another side. There was scope to at least acknowledge that silence can be incredibly isolating, and for some it is no solace. But that is ignored and the parameters the film locks itself into reduces it to the reflections and aspirations of academics and the chattering classes, who appear to have little true perception of the world outside their own.

And it is a shame that this turned into an anti-noise polemic and didn’t continue with the more considered discussion that the film started with.