the sound of silence movie review

The Sound of Silence

In this ambitious, tonally intriguing comedic drama, Peter Saarsgard plays a self-described “room tuner.” He provides a useful service to troubled New Yorkers who can’t quite put their fingers on what’s costing them sleep and/or a general sense of ease. He examines their dwelling spaces, armed with tuning forks and an array of vintage-looking audio equipment. He identifies an out-of-tune element—frequently it’s a toaster with a dissonant, barely audible hum—mutes or replaces it, and voila, the inhabitant is able to rest again.

The New York City in which the character, Peter Lucian, lives and works is itself oddly more quiet than the real-life Manhattan. This detail is one of the several crucial ways in which the movie misfires. Directed by Michael Tyburski , who cowrote the script with Ben Nabors (elaborating on a prior short film that the two collaborated on), the movie is a distinctive showcase for Saarsgard’s lowkey intensity. He’s utterly convincing as a deep wonk, standing in Central Park, oblivious to the life around him, preoccupied with his tuning forks.

Lucian has a kind of unified field theory of urban acoustics, and it’s attracting attention from a big bad corporation at the same time that he’s failing to find a solution for one of his clients, Ellen, played by Rashida Jones at a register far more subdued than we’re accustomed to. The mystery Lucian can’t get his head around may have more to do with an absence of sound than anything currently in Ellen’s apartment—he dimly declines to follow-up when Ellen lets him know that a boyfriend has recently moved out.

For Lucian, the tuner gig is more about the individual he’s helping; as much as the potential money involved in selling out may smell sweet, he can’t bear the thought of being commoditized. A research assistant ( Tony Revolori ) detects no such downside. An editor of a scholarly journal responds with incredulity to Lucian’s personal approach, saying she thought his theories a joke.

As treatments of obsession go, the movie pitches itself significantly to the right of such antecedents as “ The Conversation ” and “ Pi .” As eaten up as he gets, Lucian remains quiet, bottled up, reticent. In keeping with his tweedy clothing, the cinematography takes on a dun, at times almost sepia tone—this is a New York in which it’s almost always autumn, it seems. The approach is intriguing but gets a little monochromatic after a while.

I used to work in consumer electronics, and I actually knew people who styled themselves as room tuners, pros who put pillows up in corners and optimized speaker placement so you could get the most out of your hi-fi equipment. Contemporary A/V receivers come with little microphones you use for the box to “sweep” the room and optimize the surround output. This movie seems to delight in showing a lot of vintage electronics equipment: microcassette recorders, transcribing pedals, devices for taking down “room tone.” If you’re a maven or even vaguely curious there’s a lot of production value value to be derived here. The human story that the filmmakers want to drape over their atmosphere, though, never quite connects. 

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

• Peter Sarsgaard as Peter Lucian
• Rashida Jones as Ellen Chasen
• Tony Revolori as Samuel Diaz
• Austin Pendleton as Robert Feinway
• Kate Lyn Sheil as Nancy
• Bruce Altman as Howard Carlyle
• Charlie Scully
• Mandy Tagger
• Michael Prall
• Tariq Merhab
• Michael Tyburski

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‘The Sound of Silence’ Review: Plenty to Hear, but What Does It Mean?

Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones star in a drama for your ears that brings big ideas but does more telling than showing.

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By Aisha Harris

There’s something about a movie that goes out of its way to embrace the quiet — to make the audience really listen and be fully aware of every snippet of sound or sliver of silence — that feels refreshingly rare. In a medium that can be so reliant on character banter and song-stuffed sound cues, it can be powerful to be forced to concentrate on hearing noiselessness, so that the little sound that does occur is that much more meaningful .

“ The Sound of Silence ,” the feature debut of the director Michael Tyburski (who also wrote the screenplay with Ben Nabors), attempts to wield this power but does more telling than showing. Peter Sarsgaard plays Peter Lucien, a professional house tuner in New York City who assesses the ambient noise in people’s homes (electrical appliances, wind patterns) to pinpoint the source of their anxiety, depression or fatigue. Peter, a quiet observer deliberate in his choice of words, is painstaking in his efforts: The job is his life, and when he’s not acting as an apartment-whisperer, he’s out and about all over the city with tuning forks, mapping out the sonic patterns of each block and neighborhood.

Peter’s near-fanatical devotion to his work has served him well as the movie begins: His many satisfied clients leave him voice mail messages of effusive praise for changing their lives; he’s been profiled in The New Yorker. But he becomes unsettled when his diagnosis and proposed solution for Ellen (Rashida Jones), a nonprofit worker, fails to solve her chronic sleep issues. As he tries to get to the root of her problems (including the lingering pain from the demise of a long-term relationship), they develop something like a friendship, or an amiable case of opposites-must-interact.

The movie swells with grand ideas about our relationships with sound and with one another, often put forth through Peter’s soft-spoken voice, which oscillates between calming and eerie, or through the quiet and hum of city noises and orchestral music. But there isn’t much there there — the film’s sonic experimentation is decoration hung on a thin character. As stirring as Sarsgaard is in conveying Peter’s eccentricities, he can’t quite transcend the well-worn narrative trope of the obsessive oddball (usually a white man) who is unable to connect deeply with others.

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The sound of silence.

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• Parents Say 0 Reviews
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Common Sense Media Review

Quirky indie drama about two lonely New Yorkers.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Sound of Silence is an indie drama about an eccentric New York sound expert (Peter Sarsgaard) who makes a living as a "house tuner." That means he diagnoses the noise pollution in a particular space and then fixes it in order to better a client's life. There's nothing violent or…

Why Age 13+?

Very infrequent language includes "s--t."

Peter gets frustrated and angry, throwing and kicking his tuning forks and yelli

Adults presumably drink at a couple of dinner parties/receptions.

Mild flirting/interest between Peter and Ellen.

Any Positive Content?

Promotes being in tune with your surroundings, appreciating differences in sound

Peter is a thorough, methodical thinker and researcher. He perseveres and cares

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Violence & Scariness

Peter gets frustrated and angry, throwing and kicking his tuning forks and yelling in frustration.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

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Positive Messages

Promotes being in tune with your surroundings, appreciating differences in sound and how they can affect mood and personality.

Positive Role Models

Peter is a thorough, methodical thinker and researcher. He perseveres and cares deeply about the power/importance of sound (and lack of it). His work has helped several characters. Ellen is patient and open-minded, wants to give house tuning a chance.

Parents need to know that The Sound of Silence is an indie drama about an eccentric New York sound expert ( Peter Sarsgaard ) who makes a living as a "house tuner." That means he diagnoses the noise pollution in a particular space and then fixes it in order to better a client's life. There's nothing violent or disturbing in this quirky film: Language is extremely scarce (though "s--t" is said), and there's basically nothing in the way of substance use, sex, or violence. But the movie's character-driven plot and introspective themes won't appeal to most teens, unless they're particular fans of Sarsgaard or co-star Rashida Jones . To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

THE SOUND OF SILENCE follows the unconventional story of Peter Lucian ( Peter Sarsgaard ), a methodical "house tuner" who's made a name for himself by calibrating the sound in New Yorkers' homes to improve their moods and states of mind. In addition to working for paying clients (most of whom are suffering from anxiety, depression, insomnia, exhaustion, etc.), Peter has been researching for decades to document the exact pitch of every block in the city with hopes of being published in a scientific journal. When new client Ellen ( Rashida Jones ) hires Peter to tune her apartment but remains unhappy with the results, he becomes increasingly unnerved with his first unsuccessful case.

Is It Any Good?

Compelling performances from Sarsgaard and Jones make up for the uneven tone of this character-driven directorial debut about the power of sound. There's no shortage of quirky indie films set in Manhattan, so it's difficult to consider this one remarkable, but it's just entertaining enough to merit a viewing. Peter is a fascinating, uncompromising man whose science may not strictly stand up to peer-review standards but who stays steadfastly attached to his theories and methodologies. However wacky he seems, audiences will feel invested in his sounds of the city.

And Jones once again delivers a subtle, nuanced performance as a sad, tired woman whose mood doesn't improve even after Peter's house tuning. She does a fine job in this quiet but strong role. Austin Pendleton and Tony Revolori are also notable in supporting roles as Peter's academic friend and research assistant, respectively. But director Michael Tyburski's first feature owes its star a debt; Sarsgaard carries the film. There's a moment when it's clear that, despite all his research, Peter may never receive the acclaim he believes he merits, and Sargaard nails the scene, evoking the disappointment and despair of dashed dreams -- first in silence, then with sound.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the messages in The Sound of Silence . What do you think of Peter's beliefs about the way sound affects mood? How is noise pollution a problem? What are other ways that sensory issues can impact someone's state of mind?

Are there any role models in the movie? How does Peter demonstrate perseverance in the face of uncertainty and even ridicule?

Why do you think there are so many movies set in New York City? How does this one use the city as another character in the story?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 13, 2019
• On DVD or streaming : September 13, 2019
• Cast : Peter Sarsgaard , Rashida Jones , Tony Revolori
• Director : Michael Tyburski
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors, Latino actors
• Studio : IFC Films
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 85 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : June 20, 2023

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Review: ‘The Sound of Silence’ finds darkness in the aural world

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If an entire narrative film about a “house tuner” and the influence of sound over people’s lives seems like an esoteric yawnfest, think again: “The Sound of Silence,” anchored by a superbly modulated performance by the always intriguing Peter Sarsgaard, is fascinating, original and, yes, deeply resonant.

That’s not to say the movie is for everyone — far from it. Its gently unfolding dissection of one man’s painstaking search for sonic harmony is often somber and slow-going. But patient audiences should find cerebral, as well as audio-visual rewards in this atmospheric and delicately crafted character study that at times evokes Francis Ford Coppola’s intimate, 1974 masterwork “The Conversation.”

Directed by Michael Tyburski, who adapted the script with Ben Nabors (based on their 2013 short “Palimpsest”), the movie follows Peter Lucian, a tweedy scientist and music theorist who, among other things, has developed a process to catalog and diagnose urban sound patterns. His specialty: helping apartment dwellers in cacophonous Manhattan locate the often imperceptible noises percolating within their four walls that are, perhaps unknowingly, causing them emotional distress.

Armed with tuning forks, recorders, several mechanical contraptions and a kind of preternatural sense of detection, the hyper-focused, soft-spoken Peter zeroes in on the audible troublemakers. Off-key toaster hums are a biggie, but neighborhoods and even street corners themselves may be contributing factors. (According to Peter, Central Park reverberates “predominantly” in the key of G major while the Financial District is a D minor. Who knew?)

Although Peter’s services are in demand, his clients are initially skeptical, as if employing a psychic or an herbal healer. However, doubt fades once these bad sleepers, depressives and anxiety-plagued folks find that Peter’s prescriptive techniques have amazingly eased their issues.

But when Peter is contacted by Ellen (an affecting Rashida Jones ), an Ohio transplant working for a nonprofit group, as a last-ditch effort to manage her exhaustion and gloom, he finds himself in shakier territory both professionally and emotionally.

It’s not that Ellen, still feeling the effects of a romantic breakup, is such a cynic; she’s actually pretty open and equitable, just sad. But Peter’s exacting advice — it’s another incompatible toaster — doesn’t much help Ellen, who becomes more intrigued by the sphinx-like Peter as a person than as a sound expert.

But since the workaholic Peter isn’t the easiest guy to get close to (we have no sense of his past relationships or nonplatonic desires) and is rattled by his inability to solve Ellen’s problem, their dynamic is fraught, yet always interesting to watch unfold.

Around this same time, Peter is introduced by an old professor friend ( Austin Pendleton ) to deferential graduate student Samuel (Tony Revolori of “The Grand Budapest Hotel”), who ends up assisting Peter to inventory his wealth of data.

This seemingly earnest arrangement ultimately moves the film into effectively darker, slightly thriller-like territory which, when coupled with the disquieting Ellen situation, sends Peter into a kind of crisis of faith.

First-time feature helmer Tyburski, supported by Sarsgaard’s skillful turn, handles this tonal shift with aplomb, adding welcome tension and heft to this largely low-key affair.

The filmmaker is also aided immensely by a talented production team including cinematographer Eric Lin, sound designers Grant Elder and Ian-Gaffney Rosenfeld (the movie provides a stirring “audio tour” of Manhattan), production designer Nora Mendis and composer Will Bates. A climactic thunderstorm proves a memorable example of these technicians’ combined abilities.

Although they only appear briefly, Tracee Chimo and Alex Karpovsky as Ellen’s Brooklyn friends who recommend her to Peter, Tina Benko playing the wary editor of an elite academic journal and Bruce Altman as the glad-handing head of a new-agey corporation called Sensory Holdings also bring their A-games.

'The Sound of Silence'

Not rated Running time: 1 hour, 28 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 13, Laemmle Royal Theatre, West Los Angeles; also on VOD

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Film Review: ‘The Sound of Silence’

By Peter Debruge

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They call New York the city that never sleeps, but Peter Lucian thinks he has the solution for the Big Apple’s many insomniacs. In “The Sound of Silence,” Peter — who is not a scientist but a made-up specialist called a “house tuner” — believes that noises are to blame for the stress and anxiety that his customers feel. And so, like some kind of feng shui expert for sound, this sullen loner (played by Peter Sarsgaard , looking his most forlorn) visits the apartments of assorted stressballs in an attempt to diagnose why their acoustics are out of whack.

Maybe it’s an ultrasonic frequency coming from the refrigerator that’s interfering with someone’s sleep, or the way the floorboards squeak, or the toaster. (It’s almost always the toaster, and for those people, he has a specific noiseless model he likes to recommend.) Director Michael Tyburski, who co-wrote the script with Ben Nabors, is right to recognize how sound plays a role in people’s well-being, but it’s downright weird to conceive a character who’s focused on minor domestic disturbances in a city where the noise pollution — a cacophony of car horns and sirens and insult-shouting strangers — pours in through the windows and paper-thin walls to pummel New Yorkers’ eardrums at all hours.

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And yet, both Tyburski and his socially awkward protagonist seem fully committed to Peter’s peculiar profession, sending cameras swirling around Sarsgaard as he strikes tuning forks in crowded corners of the city to identify the aural signature of each neighborhood. “The Sound of Silence” is a deeply silly movie that takes itself incredibly seriously, and believe it or not, that’s its great pleasure. Nearly two decades ago, Charlie Kaufman opened the door to a fresh realm of absurdist science fiction with “Being John Malkovich,” and few screenwriters have managed to replicate that endearingly dorky, hyper-cerebral style of comedy since.

Popular on Variety

“The Sound of Silence” comes close, but resists embracing the humor of its premise. Instead, the movie assumes the low-contrast, dun-and-gray palette of Woody Allen’s less-funny New York films (movies like “Another Woman” and “Hannah and Her Sisters”). Costume designer Megan Stark-Evans outfits Sarsgaard in moth-colored tweeds and a coarse-looking beard, so he all but blends into the drab-looking buildings where the story unfolds. It’s the kind of lugubrious tale in which one fully expects to hear the melancholy stylings of composer Carter Burwell (the actual score, by Will Bates, is comparably morose), and it would surprise no one if the film ended with Peter slitting his wrists or sticking his head in a gas oven.

In other words, “The Sound of Silence” is a film for McSweeney’s readers and folks who listen to “Science Friday” on NPR: intellectual in a slightly out-there way, weird enough to warrant bringing up at a dinner party and all but guaranteed to remain semi-obscure — and therefore sure to maintain a degree of hipster cred for those who’ve seen it. And yet, the movie feels woefully undernourished for something that originated as a short (2013’s “Palimpsest”), as if the creators decided to make it longer but not necessarily any more eventful or intriguing. (They also neglected to flesh out the sounds of New York City, despite having earned the Dolby Family Fellowship and a rare chance among indies to mix the film in Atmos sound.)

As in the 17-minute version, the house tuner visits a skeptical single woman (here played by Rashida Jones ) who could prove to be a love interest, although Peter is so withdrawn and antisocial, there’s no chance for anything resembling chemistry to form. Ellen, as she is called, bemusedly observes as this complete stranger explores her private cocoon, inspecting her appliances and even going so far as to stretch out on her bed. “It helps me if I re-create your morning routine,” he says, and we chuckle at the spacey pseudo-science of it as Peter pokes around with his lo-fi equipment — not much different from the gear ghost hunters use to detect paranormal infestations. Dressed like a fussy 1950s college professor, Peter looks so old-school that he makes the reel-to-reel obsessive Gene Hackman played in “The Conversation” seem positively cutting-edge by comparison.

Peter thinks he knows the source of Ellen’s trouble and sends her a new toaster, but her ennui persists, chipping away at his confidence in his own theories (meanwhile, audiences might conclude that Ellen, recently separated, hasn’t learned to sleep without the sound of her ex’s snoring). This is where the feature diverges from the short that came before, providing a glimpse into Peter’s predictably dull private life: When not making house calls, he retreats to a bunker-like basement where he’s insulated from the clamor of the city. There, he enjoys solitude and near silence but is easily perturbed by the polite suggestions of his new assistant, a grad student named Samuel (Tony Revolori), who volunteers to help shape Peter’s “research” into something academic journals might consider publishing.

For such a modestly executed film, “The Sound of Silence” reverberates with big ideas: There’s the excitement of witnessing an outsider-pioneer explore a new field, trying to parse the data he’s collected to reveal some kind of overlooked “universal law.” Then there’s the drama of watching him try to convince the scientific establishment of its validity while wrestling with the forces who’d like to exploit his discoveries for profit. And finally, there’s the suggestion that Peter could in fact be crazy, and that his master theory may simply be a way of sheltering himself from normal interactions with other people.

When it comes to this last point, it hardly matters whether Peter is brilliant or deranged. Either way, he’s obviously using his work as a buffer from genuine human connection. Not until Peter manages to engineer a space free from all noise will he realize the flaw in his logic — that even in a vacuum, he can never escape his own breathing, or the pumping in his chest — and finally learn to listen to his heart.

Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (competing), Jan. 27, 2019. Running time: 87 MIN.

• Production: An Anonymous Content, Washington Square Films presentation of a {Group Theory} production, in association with Keshet Studios, Westbourne Pictures, Feracious Entertainment, Jhumka Films, Valparaiso Pictures, Max the Cat, SSS Entertainment, White Owl Ventures, Three Mile Ventures. (Int’l sales: Film Constellation, London.) Producers: Tariq Merhab, Ben Nabors, Michael Prall, Charlie Scully, Mandy Tagger Brockey, Adi Erzoni. Executive producers: Avi Nir, Peter Traugott, Aris Boletsis, Joshua Blum, Rebecca Feinberg, Michael Turnure-Salleo, Jonathan Duffy, Paula Smith Arrigoni, Alicia Brown, Pradnya Dugal, Tej Dugal, David Carrico, Heidrun Mumper-Drumm, Shaun Shanghani, Landy Liu, Adam Kirszner, Daryl Freimark. Co-producers: Kristie Lutz, Eddy Vallante.
• Crew: Director: Michael Tyburski. Screenplay: Tyburski, Ben Nabors. Camera (color): Eric Lin. Editor: Matthew C. Hart. Music: Will Bates.
• With: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones , Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton, Bruce Altman, Tracee Chimo, Alex Karpovsky, Tina Benko, Kate Lyn Sheil.

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The Sound of Silence Reviews

Aside from its technical accomplishments, it's a film that piques the viewer's interest yet ends just as it starts to hint at more beneath its premise.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 23, 2022

In an age where so many things are overdone, overblown and overwrought, it's nice to have such a simple, quiet movie about a totally relatable and universal human experience.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 25, 2020

The uniquely intellectual drama runs with a soulfully promising story as far as it can go before getting backed into a corner by a director who doesn't know how to handle it.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Nov 21, 2019

I can't recall seeing anything last year that approaches its canny psychological clout.

Full Review | Oct 2, 2019

Like the sound of the tuning forks Peter uses, the drama in The Sound of Silence starts strong and then fades out.

Full Review | Sep 27, 2019

For two thirds of its running time The Sound of Silence tracks pretty well. But then the whole thing goes haywire, dipping into material that makes no sense thematically, emotionally or intellectually.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Sep 26, 2019

Sometimes you have to hit bottom to see your life clearly for the first time. It's a relatable (if somewhat clichéd) sentiment...

Full Review | Sep 26, 2019

Thanks in major part to the alternately witty and touching script and Sarsgaard's exceptional performance, Tyburski's refined exercise in sight and sound manipulation should find an appreciative audience, though perhaps a small one.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Sep 26, 2019

The Sound of Silence is a thoughtful film, though; Sarsgaard is convincingly enigmatic, and observe how good Jones is in this mode, in which her mirth is restrained to a bare minimum.

A movie built for Sarsgaard's specific way of acting, and he's strong here, presenting Tyburski with a subtle range of feelings to best support the modest but human goals of the feature.

It is stunted and meandering, barely filling out its 85 minutes.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 26, 2019

While not quite a complete experience that sticks the landing, The Sound of Silence is nevertheless an impressive debut from a fresh new filmmaker.

Full Review | Original Score: 6.0/10 | Sep 25, 2019

There are beautiful qualities at work here, making for a sometimes poignant and harmonious film about the nature of sound and humanity.

Full Review | Sep 25, 2019

The result is a maudlin, tedious indie flick that's nowhere tongue-in-cheek enough to make up for its inherently ridiculous set-up.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 21, 2019

..."The Sound of Silence" is a modest, contemplative study of ideas that itself exemplifies those ideas in its design, not least its sound design; it embodies a conceptual rumination.

Full Review | Sep 20, 2019

A major co-star is the sound design, which, fittingly enough, tends to sound like a comforting blanket of white noise.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 20, 2019

Lucian is a man with a theory, desperate to extrapolate from what he knows is true to what it might imply, and if you've ever known such a man, you will likely appreciate Sarsgaard's performance

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 20, 2019

Despite a pair of strong performance and one of the year's most unique high-concept ideas, The Sound of Silence fails to resonate.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 17, 2019

This is based on a short film and I wonder if it would have worked better as a short film, because it does feel very stretched out and elongated beyond what the central premise can sustain.

Full Review | Sep 16, 2019

Our environment reflects us, which includes the soundscapes we live in. Food for thought.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 15, 2019

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‘the sound of silence’: film review | sundance 2019.

Peter Sarsgaard plays a "house tuner," providing sonic harmony to troubled Manhattan clients in Michael Tyburski's contemplative drama 'The Sound of Silence,' also starring Rashida Jones.

By David Rooney

David Rooney

Chief Film Critic

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While it seems right up there with other flimsy 21st-century career paths like social media influencer, Instagram model or branding consultant, not long into The Sound of Silence you will believe that “house tuner” is a legitimate profession. An ideally cast Peter Sarsgaard plays one such specialist, ironing out the discordant sonic kinks that cause depression, anxiety or stress in the homes of people living in that most cacophonous of cities, New York. Debuting feature director Michael Tyburski and co-writer Ben Nabors’ lyrical character study, expanded from their 2013 Sundance award-winning short Palimpsest , deftly balances the cerebral with the soulful in a story of transfixing originality.

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There are echoes of the work of Michael Almereyda here in the coolly intellectual approach, graced with roiling emotional undercurrents and sly humor. The intriguing mood in particular recalls his recent features Marjorie Prime and Experimenter , the latter also starring Sarsgaard.

The Bottom Line A quiet revelation.

The actor here plays Peter Lucian, a preternaturally chill, soft-spoken science geek permanently outfitted in tweed, who has parlayed his academic background in classical music theory into an exclusive niche in the ultra-competitive Manhattan job market. His unique field evolved out of awareness of what used to be called noise pollution, taken in a precision-tooled direction based on every New York City corner having its own defining tone. Central Park, for instance, is a solid G Major, the serene, idyllic sound of nostalgia. Watching Peter wield his satchel full of tuning forks and hammers in various neighborhoods, we get a picture of a man contented to be consumed by his work.

As shown in his introductory session with depressed, chronically tired Ohio transplant Ellen ( Rashida Jones ), Peter meets with new clients outside their home, so as to avoid any impediment caused by the key relationship between subject and environment. He then does a room-by-room analysis, testing things like faucets, household appliances and electrical outlets against the noise filtering in from outside until he finds the dissonance that’s disrupting the client’s peace of mind.

Ellen remains somewhat skeptical at first, but her Brooklyn hipster friends (Tracee Chimo and Alex Karpovsky, deliciously underplaying the satire) swear Peter’s the real deal — he was the subject of a New Yorker piece titled “The Devil’s in the Dischord,” after all. They also urge her to try acupuncture, which yields another droll vignette with Kate Lyn Sheil.

As unhappily single Ellen overcomes her reservations and attempts to get closer to the unfailingly pleasant but still somewhat remote Peter, he increases his efforts to gain academic recognition by publishing his paper on “Sound Patterns in the Urban Experience” in the New American Journal of Sound . If that seems like a terribly dry dramatic pursuit for a movie, it is, but it’s enlivened by a subtle playful element and surprising intimacy as each scene peels back layers of both Peter and Ellen as complex characters.

He characterizes her apartment as a C Minor, the mundane sound of resignation, which isn’t exactly flattering. And when he elaborates on his theories about life being written in patterns dictated by an unseen grid, she starts resisting, her attraction to him suddenly cooling.

At the same time, Peter encounters professional disappointments. His longtime friend, Columbia professor Robert Feinway (stage vet Austin Pendleton, marvelously jovial but slippery), may not be as supportive as he claims to be, while Samuel Diaz ( Tony Revolori from The Grand Budapest Hotel ), the assistant helping Peter to catalog his data, has his own ambitions to nurture. The sting of academic rejection — felt acutely in a withering encounter with a leading specialist in audio science (Tina Benko) — is coupled with an eye-opening taste of the opportunism of the corporate world.

This is experienced in crisply double-edged scenes that walk a line between seriousness and deadpan humor as a company called Sensory Holdings makes potential overtures toward funding Peter’s work. Their reception area console invitation to “Please select an atmosphere while you wait” is a hilarious riff on such therapeutic concepts and sleep aids as whale-call and wave-sound recordings. Sensory Holdings’ slickly ingratiating but transparently untrustworthy chief executive Harold Carlyle (Bruce Altman) wants to get Peter involved in selling “bespoke domesticity.” Peter makes no secret of his distaste, turning up his nose at the idea of his sacrosanct work being exploited for commerce.

In less assured hands than those of Sarsgaard, Tyburski and Nabors, Peter might have come off as a pretentious purist, too enamored of his own arcane knowledge to fit into the real world. It’s that aspect that causes Ellen momentarily to back away. She’s lonely but she’s also no fool in Jones’ smart, sensitive, ever-alert performance, confidently exploring the dramatic range of an actress predominantly known for comedy.

However, there’s a haunting melancholy beneath Peter’s highfalutin talk that creeps up on you in strange ways. It helps that the filmmakers have given him such credibility as a character, working with neuroscience advisors and art-science mentors to ensure that references to the mechanics of how sound affects the brain hold water.

The dense soundscape that’s such a vital presence in the movie, interwoven with Will Bates’ score and selections from Bach, Mozart and others, suddenly takes on a more assaultive aspect as Peter hits his low point in scenes that acquire a veiled violence almost akin to that of psychological horror. But the beautiful final scenes, unfolding during a thunderstorm-induced New York power outage, have an almost magical quality of hope and human connection. This is also the most visually interesting section of the otherwise slightly flat-looking movie.

It says something about this minor-key but unexpectedly lovely film’s lingering spell that we leave the theater — at least I did — recalibrating our own aural perception process and parsing the sounds around us with new attentiveness.

Production companies: Anonymous Content, Washington Square Films, [Group Theory], in association with Keshet Studios, Westbourne Pictures, Feracious Entertainment, Jhumka Films, Valparaiso Pictures, Max the Cat, SSS Entertainment, White Owl Ventures, Three Mile Ventures Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton, Bruce Altman, Tracee Chimo, Alex Karpovsky, Kate Lyn Sheil, Tina Benko Director: Michael Tyburski Screenwriters: Ben Nabors, Michael Tyburski Producers: Tariq Merhab, Ben Nabors, Michael Prall, Charlie Scully, Mandy Tagger Brockey, Adi Ezroni Executive producers: Avi Nir, Peter Traugott, Aris Boletsis, Joshua Blum, Rebecca Feinberg, Michele Turnure-Salleo, Jonathan Duffy, Paula Smith Arrigoni, Alicia Brown, Pradnya Dugal, Tej Dugal, David Carrico, Heidrun Mumper-Drumm, Shaun Sanghani, Landy Liu, Adam Kirszner, Daryl Freimark Director of photography: Eric Lin Production designer: Nora Mendis Costume designer: Megan Stark Evans Music: Will Bates Editor: Matthew C. Hart Visual effects: Perry Kroll Casting: Rori Bergman Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition) Sales: UTA

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Sounds and vibrations undoubtedly shape the world as we know it, in turn capable of evoking a variety of emotions and mental states. This is the case with anxiety and hyperawareness to noise and, of course, the serenity we can feel when we listen our favorite music. This idea is essentially what Michael Tyburski seeks to tell in his feature film directorial debut, The Sound of Silence .

Finding The Right Key

The film follows Peter Lucian ( Sarsgaard ), an obsessed musical theorists whose profession, as oddly as it seems, is that of a “house tuner.” This essentially means that he goes to different clients who suffer from various issues and tunes the sounds in their home to be in harmony, thus alleviating their problems.

Peter’s methods, though not scientifically proven, have worked wonders for most of his clients except Ellen Chasen ( Rashida Jones ). As he continuously attempts to tune the sound in Chasen’s apartment, he eventually finds that there may be more to his methods. The concept of sound, or any external stimulus for that matter, shaping relationships is a thought-provoking idea that places The Sound of Silence among the most intriguing films of the year.

Creating an Ensemble

This movie is definitely unique, and the familiar faces of Jones and Sarsgaard , with the addition of Tony Revolori , offer touching performances and a chemistry that radiates off of the screen. Their relationship feels justly human, which perfectly fits into the premise at work. This high concept film is grounded and thus helmed by these somber portrayals that reflect on obsession and introversion.  

This isn’t a movie that’s going to leave you in awe or gasping in excitement, but it may resonate on a very personal level. It’s a relatively small-scaled film, and works well as such — it knows exactly what it wants to be and leaves enough breathing room for the audience to mediate on its abstractions.

Tyburski is new to full length features, but it is evident that he had a clear vision in making this movie.  The Sound of Silence is visually effective, creating a gloomy atmosphere to balance the character of its main stars. It’s dark and melancholic, and this complements all other aspects of the film.

Of course, the movie at its core is about sound, and by design, it’s sonically powerful. It works with different pitches and volumes to portray noise the way its leading act, Peter, understands it. At times, its sound may be too potent, as some scenes left me wondering if I’d suddenly gotten tinnitus. Otherwise it uses sound superbly, with intricate panning, an emotive design, and a delicate score to back it.

Lacking a Crescendo

I stand by the notion that The Sound of Silence is a highly innovative film, although grounded, but it isn’t as brilliant as I believe it wanted to be. This is a creative piece of fiction that mostly kept my interest due to the ideas at play, and although these ideas were intriguing, the film lacked the volume of other brilliant indie films like A Ghost Story or Whiplash — relatively small but unique films that carried far more emotional weight and reached high levels of cinematic achievement.

It’s not completely fair to compare this film to other indie films, but ultimately The Sound of Silence doesn’t do much to reach new heights or have enough flare to drag it out of being just a genuine concept. It is emotionally resonant, but it only swayed me subtly rather than greatly.

I was left with a sense of wonder and a pleasant melancholia, but these feelings were short-lived, and I’m not sure The Sound of Silence exceeds anything more than an insightful watch. The short length of the film nicely wraps together the charm that is found here, though, leaving viewers to at least ponder over a tasteful concept.

The Sound of Silence : Conclusion

There are beautiful qualities at work here, making for a sometimes poignant and harmonious film about the nature of sound and humanity. The Sound of Silence is peculiar and intriguing in that, but it never really hits the high notes that make a great indie film. Sarsgaard and Jones at least elevate the genuineness of the narrative, which makes for a thought-provoking watch.

What did you think of The Sound of Silence ? Do you think sound shapes the way we live? Let us know!

The Sound of Silence was released on VOD and in select theaters on September 13th.

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Joseph Dominguez is a Southern Californian with a degree in psychology and an immense love for pop culture.

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> The Sound Of Silence (2019) Film Review

The sound of silence.

Reviewed by: Andrew Robertson

There's a form of problem solving known as a Fermi estimate. It's used in physics education, it's a way to get a good approximation with small amounts of data. The example I first encountered was not the eponymous Enrico's surmise as to the strength of 'The Gadget' that ushered in the Atomic age. It was about piano tuners.

How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? How many people live there? How many have pianos? How often does a piano need tuned? By assembling a succession of estimates, occupying a weird interzone between kenning and Bayesian probability and upper and lower bounds, you will get to an answer that has a high degree of rightness. It may not be the correct answer, but it will do.

So, two questions. Firstly, how many films seem drawn from the pages of The New Yorker, one of those literary fiction shorts in one of the most famous surviving markets for that art-form that will skirt the boundaries of what the mainstream would call science fiction while entirely within the boundaries of other genres and definitions? Secondly, how many 'house tuners' serve the Manhattan area?

Grown from the 2013 short film Palimpsest (a text upon a previously erased text) this is something wonderous, magical. Realistic too, if only in that sense that there might be sufficient weight to environmental discomforts that their removal, their modification, might have a greater effect than placebo.

Careful attention is rewarded, not just in the substitution of one toaster for another but in the music by Will Bates and the elements of performance in a film that is carried by what sits between two ears. Those of Peter Lucien (Peter Sarsgaard), sitting between two eras.

It looks like the Seventies in places. Hard rains don't wash streets clean like they used to, but Peter is a man out of time. Valves have given way to microchips, transformers to transistors, the hum and sway of the city are changing around him and the veneer of civilisation is no longer finely grained.

It is not just the nature of the audio equipment that recalls The Conversation , nor the acoustical intent that is suggestive of Berberian Sound Studio . There are patterns in the walls and in the whispers, their curves could be transformed by another mathematical eponym, Fourier, into curves that might serve as a Primer to Pi .

Michael Tyburski directs. He and co-writer Ben Nabors had the same roles on that originating short. A début fiction feature for each (various overlaps there), this is a treat of a film. It speaks to a very specific sense and sensibility. The effects work, especially Grant Elder's sound design, envelops.

There are tinnital distresses, undertones to "I'm not listening to anything," a purity to it. A stunning clarity of tone, here well executed. It is not uncommon for short films to be expanded to features, to borrow another sound of the Seventies the function and features of a 12" remix are always hopefully more than a mere reprise. Both Sound Of Silence and its precursor drew positive attention at Sundance, and it is one you should listen out for.

Director: Michael Tyburski

Writer: Ben Nabors, Michael Tyburski

Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton

Runtime: 88 minutes

Country: US

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‘The Sound of Silence’ Review: Peter Sarsgaard Excels in a Sonic Drama That’s All Signal, No Noise — Sundance

Michael nordine.

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If you listen closely enough, even silence sounds like something . Most of us can’t hear it, but most of us aren’t house tuners. Peter Lucian ( Peter Sarsgaard ) is, though, and he uses his particular set of skills to rid people of their ailments — depression, fatigue, what have you — by mapping out the soundscapes of their homes and reharmonizing them with micro-changes to their sonic ecosystems. As out-there as that may sound, the hero of Michael Tyburski’s debut feature isn’t a charlatan — much like “ The Sound of Silence ” itself, he’s a unique figure who deserves to be listened to as closely as possible.

We’ve entered an era of sensory deprivation at the movies, with “A Quiet Place” and “Bird Box” presenting it as something terrifying: make a noise or open your eyes, these films warn, and they will get you. Tyburski takes a more cerebral approach, offering up a man who’s so attuned to the constant background hum of daily life that he knows how to focus on the signal and ignore the noise. Watching Peter work — putting on headphones, tinkering with tuning forks, recording everything he does — is more compelling than it has any right to be.

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All of his clients are skeptical of his methods, but all of them end up being satisfied — until he meets Ellen (Rashida Jones), whose chronic exhaustion is seeping into every aspect of her life. After closely examining her apartment, laying in her bed, and determining which note her appliances strike, Peter offers a simple solution: buy a new toaster. The nearly imperceptible sound it emits interferes with her living space’s natural room tone and is the apparent source of her ongoing sleep issues.

“The Sound of Silence” wouldn’t have much drama if this consultation proved as effective as those that came before it, of course, and Tyburski charts the ensuing anxiety with a subtlety befitting his protagonist. This film is quiet in more ways than one, drawing viewers in but compelling them to hang on every word. That’s largely due to Sarsgaard, whose performance is akin to his turn as Stanley Milgram in Michael Almereyda’s “Experimenter.” He fully inhabits his oddball character, making him not only believable but convincing in the way he carries out his strange duties.

Peter is like a wellness guru you’d see on Instagram, only his #brand is too subtle and soft-spoken to be an influencer and his technique is too sophisticated to fit into 280 characters. Recently written about in the New Yorker, he now has the chance to monetize his gifts in new ways — but resists. “This is about universal constants,” he says, “not commerce.” Peter’s priorities are understanding the sonic elements of everyday life and helping his clients (in that order), with allowing corporations to co-opt his findings ranking somewhere near volunteering for a root canal.

A classical music devotee, he’s impressed by Stravinsky’s dissonance and Beethoven’s use of suspense — as well as the fact that all of these masters were manipulating neurological responses that science had yet to define. His expertise is as niche as they come, but Sarsgaard is so quietly expressive that you can’t help wanting to hear more. He’s the eccentric professor you remember years after completing your degree, not just because he’s brilliant but because his connection to his material makes it difficult for him to connect to others.

That said, Tyburski never goes “A Beautiful Mind” on us. Peter’s life is appropriately harmonious for a good long while, and it isn’t until he struggles to solve Ellen’s ongoing problems that his own life grows dissonant — a gradual change expressed, fittingly enough, via a high-pitched hum in the latter half of the film. Tyburski and co-writer/producer Ben Nabors brought a shorter version of the story called “Palimpsest” to Sundance six years ago, and managed to avoid most of the pitfalls associated with shorts extended into features: “The Sound of Silence” never feels like 20 minutes of narrative stretched across an 85-minute runtime, even if it proves more effective as a character study than it does as a drama.

Even the best records start skipping after a while, and once “The Sound of Silence” gives in to the demands of conventional narrative it begins feeling less fresh and new than it did when it was simply introducing us to Peter and his work. It’s an auspicious debut for Tyburski nevertheless, and may leave you wishing you could hire a house tuner of your own.

“The Sound of Silence” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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Peter Sarsgaard Tunes Houses In ‘The Sound Of Silence,’ A Love Story For People Who Love NPR

Before The Sound of Silence began, the Sundance festival programmer who introduced it called it “lyrical,” “reflective,” “philosophical” and “boldly quiet.” Immediately I thought to myself “oh no.” Those descriptors all tend to be film festival-ese for “it’s dry but give it a chance,” which isn’t necessarily the first thing you want to hear before a movie.

The Sound Of Silence lived up to its pre-apology. Michael Tyburski’s film, adapted from the short Palimpsest , by Ben Nabors, is a clever, proudly “small” film, a peculiar little story about a “house tuner” named Peter played by Peter Sarsgaard, a music theorist who visits people’s houses and fiddles with their appliances to create a soundscape to optimize their well-being. “I see the problem, your toaster is producing a C flat,” he’ll tell a bemused homeowner, smiling gently as he wraps a radiator joint in lead tape.

It’s scholarly to the point that it’s bloodless, a dowdy tweed jacket of a film.

One of his early clients is a recently separated woman played by Rashida Jones, who seems to have a problem Peter can’t quite lick. So he keeps coming back, trying different things, going to see her work environment. Eventually, we come to realize that she’s the love interest of sorts, more through proximity and process of elimination than chemistry. What else would she be doing in this story? They display affection mostly through the frequency with which they engage in philosophical conversations. He believes the sounds around us shape our feelings. She believes life is all about the choices we make, humans with free will, and environment is only the backdrop.

Yes, I believe I heard an NPR podcast about this, a debate over the existence of free will. Just as the Vikings imagined heaven as an endless series of battles and feasts, it seems there’s a certain brand of NPR listener that imagines the perfect relationship as an extended panel discussion. This is a movie for those people.

Sarsgaard meets with a smiling capitalist one day who has read about Sarsgaard’s work in the New Yorker and says he wants to work with him on ventures to sell “bespoke home environments.” Sarsgaard is moderately horrified, and the idea itself and at the prospect of training consultants to do his work over video chat for customers all over the world. He tells the man his work is “about constancy, not commerce.” This is also the last time anyone in the film references a world beyond New York.

It’s an intriguing premise, lyrical and with an artfully crafted soundscape. Jones and Sarsgaard share stimulating discussions in which they share neither verbal chemistry nor physical touch, and by and large the film seems to be populated by characters who frown slightly when they hear a swear and sleep with v neck sweaters on. It’s dry but not bad if you give it a chance.

Vince Mancini is on Twitter . You can find his archive of reviews here

‘The Sound of Silence’ Film Review: Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones Excel in Soulful Tale of Sound and Connection

The clashing notes of New York’s rattle and hum stir an audiophile to explain human behavior in this touching drama

Imagine “The Conversation” — and its closed-up character’s sonic filter on a troubled world — as a platonic romance instead of a paranoid thriller, and you’ll have some idea of how Michael Tyburski’s feature debut “The Sound of Silence” plays as it studies the debilitating obsessiveness of an urban loner confronted with human complexity.

Chilly yet compassionate, anchored by both a characteristically deep-set portrait of off-putting intelligence from Peter Sarsgaard and a poignant turn by Rashida Jones, it’s a delicate oddity that won’t necessarily replace any of your favorite cinematic New York couplings, but it’ll remind you why we often respond to an unlikely pairing built around smarts, sadness and hope.

Sarsgaard’s character Peter Lucian, bearded and calmly arrogant in the manner of a professor, is a self-described “house tuner,” a sound expert for hire who answers the call of unsettled New Yorkers open to finding a remedy in Peter’s method. He assesses a living space’s mix of ambient tones — whether from electrical appliances, construction quirks, or outside atmospheric factors — to determine what external solution will produce the sound that subliminally alters a person’s mood. (In the opening scene, he tells a customer his anxiety can be traced to a discordant note from the radiator.)

A specialized eccentric living in a converted fallout shelter that he’s turned into a noise-canceling, analog man-cave of recording-playing devices (shades of surveillance king Harry Caul’s work cage in “The Conversation”), Peter subsists on his word-of-mouth tuner gigs — in a perfect script detail, he’s even been a New Yorker “Talk of the Town” subject — but sees true deliverance in what’s occupied him for years: a mapping of New York’s sonic makeup that, to his mind, amounts to an undiscovered universal law detailing how sound influences human emotions.

When he’s not aurally assessing clients’ apartments, or convincing his kindly professor friend (Austin Pendleton) of his project’s academic worth, he’s out amidst the city’s thrums and dins with tuning forks, listening for hidden tone patterns that will explain everything from Times Square’s vibrancy to Central Park’s lyricism.

What throws this cautious, methodical man off his game is messiness. There’s the looming threat of academic rejection — which spurs him to hire an assistant (Tony Revolori, “Spider-Man: Far From Home”) — but also the case of charity worker Ellen (Jones), whose new Peter-approved toaster isn’t solving her sleeplessness or apprehension. Ellen is as invested in repairing her loneliness as he is in proving his theories of sound will do just that, but while she embarks on her version of a solution (namely, being social with this curious figure) he tends to retreat into a shell of embittered solitude when others don’t see or hear things the way he does.

Expanding upon his short film “Palimpsest,” Tyburski and co-screenwriter Ben Nabors have created a memorably single-minded protagonist in Peter, and Sarsgaard finds an almost sensual serenity in the everyday gravity of his assuredness, even as the film gingerly weaves both a pensive quality and a deadpan wit. At times Peter is an easily romantic figure; when his guard is down slightly and the joy enters his understated delivery as he talks about knowing there’s a master harmony determining our behavior, you want to believe him. (As for the movie’s own aural qualities, Will Bates’ solid score and the nicely layered sound design of Grant Elder and Ian Gaffney-Rosenfeld do much to make manifest the world as Peter experiences it, truly and psychologically.)

Tyburski and Nabors also do a fine job setting Peter up with interactions that put us on his side, as when he accepts a meeting with a glad-handing tech entrepreneur (Bruce Altman) who wants Peter to help sell personalized atmospheres as the latest home improvement trend. It’s a believably knotty contrast between an unapologetic opportunist and a science-minded purist, the exchange filling Peter with barely concealed disgust at the thought of his precious research coopted for corporate gain.

It’s in the slow-simmer relationship with Ellen, though, where the movie finds its gentlest hum. Sarsgaard and Jones show the type of chemistry that doesn’t arise from obvious spark — whether they’re feeling each other out as friends or lovers is almost its own mystery — but from a kind of unspoken vulnerability and presence of mind. Whether politely talking, politely arguing, or appreciating a silence together — as in the poetic final moments during a citywide blackout (artfully rendered by cinematographer Eric Lin, who does finely textured work throughout) — they truly are the top tones in any room, looking for a harmonic convergence when the world makes connecting harder than ever.

It might have served the movie better if Peter’s and Ellen’s separate sorrows (whatever created his armor and her loneliness) were given some explanation. But the actors still make the willful opacity work as an ever-present emotional force, and it’s that human attention that helps give Tyburski’s carefully crafted ode to the enduring appeal of quixotic searchers its wonderfully small-scale grace.

The Sound of Silence

Review by brian eggert september 29, 2019.

Most people grow out of ear infections when they’re children. I never did. To this day, I have had at least one ear infection per year. It’s a chronic condition that has required several mastoidectomies, countless sets of short-term ear tubes and longer-term, tympanostomy tubes. There’s also the constant tinnitus, the sharp ringing that emerges in a quiet room where, without ambient sound, it can be deafening. As a result, my ears have a hypersensitivity to sound. I hear subtle effects in the background others cannot, and loud noises often startle me. Watching The Sound of Silence , about a “house tuner” who looks for ambient tones or frequencies that may cause psychological side effects in his New York clientele, I was intrigued by the concept and felt personally invested. But rather than digging into the idea or exploring how sound actually affects our lives, this character study just begins to crack the surface of its subject before ending after a mere 88 minutes. 

Michael Tyburski makes his feature debut, expanding his 2013 short film “Palimpsest” by about an hour. It’s an assured first effort, with production designer Nora Mendis and cinematographer Eric Lin creating a beige world of subtle, muted tones. The visual aesthetics reflect the soundscape, where pings of evidence remain hidden in the flat, autumnal world inhabited by Peter Lucian (Peter Sarsgaard), who calibrates homes the way a professional would tune a piano. He’s a character reminiscent of Gene Hackman’s protagonist in The Conversation (1974), a wire-tapper fixated on audio clues to the exclusion of all else. Although he is not a scientist trained by academia, he studied musical theory and reflects on the power of sound like a liberal artist. “The silence is full of sound,” says Peter, who continues to work on a project to map the harmonics of New York—the financial district is in the key of D minor, Central Park is G major, and so on. Peter’s status as just-shy-of-legitimacy has left him yearning for approval from scholars, yet he’s also resentful toward anyone who doesn’t acknowledge the originality of his work.  

The film centers on Peter’s involvement with a client, a woman named Ellen (Rashida Jones) who feels depressed and exhausted. She learns about him from friends (Alex Karpovsky, Tracee Chimo), who appear in a single, clumsy expository scene in which they read about Peter aloud from an article in The New Yorker , which earns him some credibility. When she finally meets him in a neutral public space rather than her apartment, he explains, “It can be difficult to talk about a relationship problem, in this case your apartment, with both parties present”—as if the apartment were listening. The root of the problem seems to be Ellen’s toaster, which emits an E flat, and when combined with other sounds in her apartment, it results in a C minor, the “sound of resignation” that has shaped Ellen’s personality. But even days after correcting the issue identified in his diagnosis, Ellen has not improved. Instead, she’s intrigued by Peter, leading to a predictable if unearned romance in offbeat indie mode. 

But just as The Sound of Silence begins to strike notes of Darren Aronofsky’s Pi (1998), another film about a fanatical pseudo-scientist who believes the entire universe functions on a ruling principle, Tyburski stops exploring. The film takes a superficial view of Peter, as it does most of its characters. It avoids penetrating too far into his psyche, perhaps because he’s the kind of person whose strangeness is interesting until his inflexibility and obsessions prove scary. For instance, the film never deals with how Peter records his conversations with Ellen and listens to them again later, as if he missed some crucial element. What would Ellen think of this? Tyburski avoids any high-toned material, preferring to keep things on a low-key note. But the director mistakes long scenes of Peter sitting and listening with an inquiring expression as substance, though they don’t amount to much. And so, the film feels incomplete and undercooked, as though either the reveal of Peter’s theory about the universe running on an order of frequencies or the promise of Peter and Ellen’s romance would be a fitting narrative conclusion. 

Sarsgaard’s quiet performance deserves credit for giving Peter the look of someone who might be on to something, as opposed to a complete crackpot. The performance is particularly good in the later scenes, especially one where Peter approaches the editor of an academic journal. Suddenly the calm certainty he has maintained throughout the film gives way to the character’s desperation, an aspect of Peter’s personality the film narrowly investigates. Sarsgaard has a presence that always seems to have an inner life, but Tyburski barely explores it, leaving the viewer wishing we had learned more. The Sound of Silence has a confident look and audio schema. The soundscape designed by Grant Elder and Ian Gaffney-Rosenfeld consists of enhanced ambient sound, tinny chimes, the occasional Bach recording, and loud intrusions from the city. But aside from its technical accomplishments, it’s a film that piques the viewer’s interest yet ends just as it starts to hint at more beneath its premise. 

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Review: The Sound of Silence

Title:  The Sound of Silence MPAA Rating:  Unrated Director:  Michael Tyburski Starring:  Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori Runtime:  1 hr 25 mins

What It Is:  Peter Lucien (Sarsgaard) is a “house tuner”. What that means is the fine people of New York City pay him to tune the sounds, or lack thereof, their home in order to allow for a better living experience. When he is hired by Ellen (Jones) he has found a challenge worthy of his admirable skill level. At the same time, a colleague named Samuel (Revolori) seeks to make his name off of the works Peter has been putting in.

What We Think:  This movie is really really too dry for me. It’s a slow-moving piece that isn’t really well-paced. Sure Peter Sarsgaard is his typical self..just out here acting his ass off. But the script is so boring. Sure it’s all really well done but is it interesting? No, not really. Alongside a completely strange premise all of the supporting characters outside of Sarsgaards’ Lucien just sort of become set dressing. I really like how the film is shot…it looks pretty gorgeous. There’s a neo-futuristic feel to the greys that permeate all over this thing.

Our Grade:  C+,  Do I recommend this? Yeah not really. This is another film, of many, that we missed at Sundance and honestly, I’m glad I did. I almost fell asleep enough times during the festival…this simply would’ve added to the total number. Sarsgaard in total makes a ton of movies no one sees. Stuff like Black Mass   or  Experimenter .  He continues his reputation as a reliable character actor. I mean if you need a film to cure your insomnia this would probably for sure do it. It’s easy enough to get a hold of at this point as it is currently on VOD.

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Review: ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ – a sensational 4K release from Arrow Video

Jonathan Demme’s landmark psychological horror ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ has been given an exquisitely detailed 4K restoration by Arrow Video. I don’t want to say the film has never looked better, as that is entirely subjective. The process of taking films from decades ago and making them look like they were released today is certainly a contentious topic right now. Especially in instances where we are seeing the texture of celluloid being digitally scrubbed away. I’m happy to report that hasn’t happened here. Arrow’s restoration is very impressive, and from an objective perspective, has never looked this sharp and finely detailed. If image clarity is your thing, then this is the release for you.

The film of course, remains a stone cold masterpiece. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris, ’The Silence of the Lambs’ follows FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she seeks the help of the brilliant but dangerous Dr Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a cannibalistic serial killer, in order to hunt down another murderer. Seamlessly blending genre conventions with a probing examination of power, identity, and the symbiotic relationship between hunter and prey, this Oscar winning thriller is one of the most influential films in the history of cinema, and remains a visual and thematic touchstone for filmmakers today.

What sets ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ apart from its predecessors and successors however is its meticulous attention to character psychology. Starling’s journey is framed as one of personal confrontation and empowerment, where her status as a young woman becomes central to her navigation of a world filled with predatory gazes. Demme and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto place the camera at Starling’s eye level, so we see the film through her perspective. We live inside her. We see and feel the film through her. This technique gives the film a uniquely feminine perspective.

Jodie Foster won her second Academy Award for her work in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and it was justly deserved. Hers is an astonishingly accomplished performance, balancing Starling’s steely determination with her personal fears and vulnerability. There’s a quiet resilience to Foster’s grounded and self-assured performance, which perfectly complements the more theatrical intensity of Hopkins’ portrayal of Lecter. Their scenes together are electric.

There’s been some online debate in recent years about the definitive Hannibal Lecter performance, with many now declaring that Brian Cox’s understated and ice-cold turn in Michael Mann’s ‘Manhunter’ is the superior interpretation. What is in no doubt however, is that Hopkins’ award winning performance created one of the most enduring screen villains we have ever seen, with his elegant and cultured malevolence. Iconic is an overused word, but it is justified in this instance. Every scene with Hopkins, every line of dialogue, every interaction with Foster has become iconic. It is surely one of the most memorable and oft-quoted performances of all time.

Expertly balancing suspense, gothic horror, and character driven storytelling, ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ remains the gold standard for the psychological thriller genre. With it’s sharp screenplay, outstanding performances, and tight direction it is a stunningly crafted film. A final word on Jonathan Demme. In the scene where Lecter escapes in spectacular grand guignol fashion, Demme cuts away from the horror for a few second to show us a cop who needs to sit down after bearing witness to what Lecter has done. It’s a terrific little grace note, and something most other filmmakers wouldn’t even consider. A reminder—as if we need it—of what a great director he was. He is missed.

This is a sensational release from Arrow. There are two commentary tracks to choose from, including one with filmmaker Elizabeth Purchell and film critic Caden Mark Gardner. The second is with critic and film scholar Tim Lucas. ‘Through Her Eyes’ is a brand new visual essay on the theme of transformation in the film by critic Justine Peres Smith. Exclusive to this release, this featurette explores the film through the lens of the pygmalion myth.

‘Healing Humanity’ is another exclusive video essay for this release, this one from critic Willow Catelyn Maclay exploring point of view and personalisation in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’. ‘Breaking the Silence’ is an archival piece which allows you to watch the film with picture in picture interviews and trivia. This version is not in 4K, and serves as a terrific comparison for how good the upgrade is.

‘Page to Screen’ from 2002 is an episode of the Bravo TV series Page to Screen presented by actor Peter Gallagher, and tells the story of Thomas Harris’s novel and its journey to the screen and the huge success that followed. ‘Scoring the Silence’ is a 2004 interview with Howard Shore. ‘Jonathan Demme and Jodie Foster’ is a terrific in depth 3-part interview from 2005 directed by prolific behind-the-scenes documentarian Laurent Bouzereau.

‘Understanding the Madness’ is a featurette from 2008 with various FBI alumni discussing the profiling of serial killers. Also on the disc is the original making-of featurette from 1991. There are 20-minutes of deleted scenes, plus a further 7-minutes of additional and variant scenes sourced from a VHS workprint. We also get a short clip of outtakes (including Anthony Hopkins doing a Rocky Balboa impression), a voicemail message by Hopkins in character, a selection of trailers and TV spots, and an image gallery.

From a purely subjective point of view, the Criterion release still just about edges it for me. I think as an overall package, taking into account the artwork, the quality of the bonus features, and the essays, it is still the definitive release. However, it’s a very close call. There’s little difference in price between the two, and if you are so inclined, there’s enough good stuff on both releases to justify owning the pair of them. Where this one has the advantage is the stunning 4K upgrade. As fans of this amazing film, how lucky are we to have two such phenomenal editions to choose from?

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine Director: Jonathan Demme Writer: Ted Tally Released By: Arrow Video Certificate:  18 Duration:  118 mins  Release Date: 26 August 2024

• Anthony Hopkins
• Arrow Films
• Arrow Video
• Jodie Foster
• Jonathan Demme
• The Silence of the Lambs

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Martin Scorsese

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Can definitely tell this was a passion project for Scorsese. So much love and attention to detail put into this one. Enjoy how it wrestles with religion and what it truly means to have faith. Can see it from both sides. Has some knockout performances form Neeson, Garfield, and Driver.

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Yasushi takada, liam neeson, andrew garfield, yôsuke kubozuka, seasons (4).

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Silence is beautifully-crafted and well-acted, but often frustrating in the way that it examines spirituality through historical drama.

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Songs of Silence Early Access review: A gorgeous auto-battling feast for the eyes

Marco wutz | jun 4, 2024.

Generally, auto-battlers are not my thing – I miss having control over the action and feel damned to watch things playing out on their own. But Songs of Silence , a new auto-battler that incorporates elements of turn-based 4X strategy games into its formula, looks so beautiful that I’m ready to make an exception. Being able to lose myself in the enchanting art style as battles rage on more than makes up for my gripes with the lack of direct control.

German developer Chimera Entertainment, which is based in Munich, really went all out when it comes to sheer style: Art Nouveau in all its vibrant, colorful power dominates the game’s looks from its strategic map and battlefields to its character and card art. Even in darker regions of the game’s two worlds, its use of different types of lighting preserves that vibrancy and playfulness.

Aside from the spectacular execution of it all, I’m in love with the general world-building and the visual design of the characters and units in this game. It reminds me a little of The Banner Saga and even partly of something FromSoftware might come up with – some of the units have those unsettling Elden Ring vibes and it’s great. It’s a medieval fantasy setting, but not your typical one with elves and orcs and knights in shining armor. 

Your humans ride giant oxen into battle and summon powerful celestial entities to do their bidding as they’re warring amongst themselves and being assailed by invaders that look like the children of demons and Eldritch horrors. One faction of religious fanatics has powerful creatures that look like they’re straight from Attack on Titan, while a different one uses whacky constructs that throw bolts of lightning. Other humans ride on giant birds, while the lost kobold tribes use dinosaurs as mounts – I could go on and on, because the unit variety in this game is massive.

Moving on from the enchanting visuals and designs, the gameplay itself is super solid, though it’s restricted by its genre: Don’t expect Songs of Silence to provide immense tactical and strategic depth. Again, it is an auto-battle – when armies clash, you will not be able to control your units in a direct way all of the time, though you can influence what’s happening on the battlefield a little.

This is thanks to the game’s card system. Each army is led by a hero character and these have access to a deck of cards, which grows as they level up. When heroes gain enough experience, you’ll get to either choose a card to add to their collection or upgrade an existing card’s effects. Some of these cards are damage or defense abilities you can cast during battles, others allow you to move certain unit types to specific areas on the battlefield, giving you limited control. All of this stuff is cooldown-based, so deciding the best timing for each ability is crucial.

While this system doesn’t provide massive tactical depth and decision-making, it keeps things interesting and engaging enough for an auto-battler – things remain fairly casual and laid-back, not requiring copious amounts of actions per minute, but you still get the satisfaction of nailing charges or abilities that turn the tide of battle. It’s a solid compromise and thanks to the strong unit variety, things remain fresh.

Other card types affect the strategy layer of the game, allowing you to construct certain building types in your holdings, which in turn influences resource production and recruitment. While the battles take place on separate battlefields, Total War-style, the rest of the action plays out on the strategy map, which features different location and terrain types. Your armies maneuver around using movement points and have the ability to hide inside forests, allowing them to ambush any unsuspecting enemy. What’s more, if an army is using a lot of movement points per turn, it will reform into a marching column, making it vulnerable to ambushes as well. Moving around in a series of smaller maneuvers is slower, but preserves the battle formation and prevents troops from being ambushed – a neat detail.

Empire management isn’t incredibly deep: Different location types produce different resources and can recruit different units, with special places like magical forests or kobold villages being especially awesome. They all have different prosperity levels, allowing you to upgrade them when a character is at the location – and that’s one of the trickier aspects of the game. In the campaign, you’ll usually find yourself under threat from different directions, so finding the right moment to send one of your armies on an administrative tour through your realm is challenging.

Other factors to consider are that not every settlement can provide reinforcements and healing and that only certain locations are able to convert captured loot into gold income, so there is a certain amount of logistics management in play. So just like for the battles, these systems are a pretty basic bunch overall, but provide just enough depth to keep things spicy.

Included with the Early Access release is a campaign mode with several chapters, which will see you take the stage as different factions in one overarching story spanning two worlds. Here you will meet some great characters and play through a variety of maps with unique objectives keeping things fresh and thematic throughout the entire journey. There is also skirmish mode, where you can freely build armies and test them against the AI as well as a full encyclopedia listing the game’s characters, units, and cards with all the cool lore behind them.

All of this is accompanied by an atmospheric OST composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto of Final Fantasy and Valkyria Chronicles fame.

Plans for future updates include a co-op multiplayer mode, challenge maps, and additional modifiers to win conditions and skirmish maps for more replayability.

Aside from the genre drawbacks and the more casual depth of the gameplay, which are probably set in stone, the team at Chimera Entertainment will have to work on some optimization during Early Access. The game does crash from time to time and seems to make my high-end PC work a little more than it should really have to for a turn-based title. There are some visual bugs as well, which cause units to turn invisible during battle sometimes – though luckily your troops appear to still be able to see and defeat them, even if you can’t spot them anymore. 

If Songs of Silence wasn’t an auto-battler, but featured either turn-based combat in the style of Age of Wonders or real-time battles a la Total War, and just a little more empire management, this would probably land on my game of the year shortlist (heck, it may very well still do so) – as things are, its genre, its resulting drawbacks, and a few technical issues ever so slightly lessen my enthusiasm, so it has to settle for being the best auto-battler and most gorgeous strategy game I’ve ever played.

Score: Recommended.

Version tested: PC ( Steam ).

A short reminder that we don’t score Early Access reviews – if a game has a sound combination of mechanics, content, presentation, and technical competence at Early Access release, it’ll be “recommended” based on this version. Should those elements not be given at this time, it’ll be “not recommended” instead. A full re-evaluation with a score will take place with the 1.0 launch.

Marco Wutz is a writer from Parkstetten, Germany. He has a degree in Ancient History and a particular love for real-time and turn-based strategy games like StarCraft, Age of Empires, Total War, Age of Wonders, Crusader Kings, and Civilization as well as a soft spot for Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail. He began covering StarCraft 2 as a writer in 2011 for the largest German community around the game and hosted a live tournament on a stage at gamescom 2014 before he went on to work for Bonjwa, one of the country's biggest Twitch channels. He branched out to write in English in 2015 by joining tl.net, the global center of the StarCraft scene run by Team Liquid, which was nominated as the Best Coverage Website of the Year at the Esports Industry Awards in 2017. He worked as a translator on The Crusader Stands Watch, a biography in memory of Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, and provided live coverage of many StarCraft 2 events on the social channels of tl.net as well as DreamHack, the world's largest gaming festival. From there, he transitioned into writing about the games industry in general after his graduation, joining GLHF, a content agency specializing in video games coverage for media partners across the globe, in 2021. He has also written for NGL.ONE, kicker, ComputerBild, USA Today's ForTheWin, The Sun, Men's Journal, and Parade. Email: [email protected]

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