Silence as an element producer of moods/atmospheres in the film Rififi, by Jules Dassin

Abstract

In this paper, I reflect on the presence of silence in Jules Dassin's film Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes, 1955), more specifically in the long scene of heist. The silence in this scene is represented by the absence of the speeches and the musical soundtrack (not by a complete absence of sound). This subject is discussed on the basis of some authors. In a more general perspective: Le Breton (1997) and Sontag ([1967] 2015). In a closer look at the cinema: Martin ([1985] 2013), Tarkovski ([1990] 2010), Bresson (2004), Gil (2012), among others. The hypothesis defended in this paper is that the silence in the film produces some considerable effects on the spectator, but effects that, however, escape a more focused approach to the revelation of a meaning, that is, an interpretive activity. Because of this specificity, the reading in this paper is based on a specific field, called the Materialities of Communication, in which a different view of interpretation is proposed, directed to elements other than meaning, in artistic and cultural objects. A concept proposed in the field of materialities is central to this reflection, that of Stimmung, or mood/atmosphere, discussed by the German researcher Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht in the book Atmosphere, Mood, Stimmung: On a Hidden Potential of Literature (2011). I consider that the presence of silence in the movie heist scene is fundamental for the creation of very specific and peculiar atmospheres/ambiences that would probably not exist if the sound configurations were different.