Film in focus: Sound of Falling
The Sound of Falling is a new film that delves into intricate and intertwined stories of womanhood through the lens of four generations of women in rural Germany.
In it, fragments from a hundred years in one farmhouse coalesce into a cinematic flood of memory centred on four adolescent girls over the last century – their desires and distress, their secrets and truths, their encounters with another’s gaze and defiant gaze in return.
Rachel, HOME’s Head of Film Strategy, recently described it as one of her “films of the year.”
So, we sat down with Rachel to learn why…
So when did you see Sound of Falling?
I went to a festival screening at The Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic – as well as working in film, I love being a film tourist so this was a great holiday! The film was part of the Horizons selection there, alongside other titles that had also recently played at Cannes, like Sirat. Sound of Falling had such an impact on me that I haven't stopped recommending it to people since that screening. It was one of my festival films of the year last year, which is high praise indeed.
I’m looking forward to rewatching Sound of Falling when it’s released in the UK (Fri 6 March) as it’s such a rich film that I know there will be more to take in a second time around.
Is it the kind of film you would typically enjoy?
Ah yes, this is exactly my sort of film. I typically enjoy seeing how female relationships – mother / daughters, sisters, and wider social structures - are presented on screen, including all the complications, difficulties, and realities of these dynamics. I’m particularly interested in sisters on screen because I think when you get it right, it's really powerful, and when you get it wrong it’s really obvious.
Also, I am really interested in how memory is presented in cinema, and memory is such a central theme of the film. Here, Mascha Schilinski explores how memories can be embedded in the very fabric of a building and rooted in place.
So how does Schilinski deal with memory in Sound of Falling?
She blends the themes of the film – women’s experiences and changing relationships with the community around them over the course of approximately 100 years – with the artistic form of her filmmaking. Some of the film is portrayed in a kind of liminal space, between what’s real and what’s memory which creates an ethereal quality about the piece, something that’s both fairy tale and rooted in frighteningly real experiences. To recreate memory, Schilinski plays with our sense of reality, creating looping connections through the narratives and generations, which also seems very close to how memories work.
What was it you loved about Sound of Falling particular?
Alongside the importance of telling these women’s stories, I loved the style of the film. I’m thinking in particular of the choices regarding how the film is constructed and how well the editing connects with the subject matter. It has amazing cinematic moments which stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
Thinking about how this film is shot, what stood out to you?
Part of the experience of the film is that as its audience, we're very aware of our role as spectator or perhaps a role even deeper than that. As we’re witnessing some incredibly personal and difficult moments, it’s very much like the camera is intruding on the characters’ lives. In some shots, the camera takes the point of view a specific character in the film and at other times, this point of view of ‘a watcher’ cannot easily be attributed. There’s an undercurrent of unease throughout the film and this point of view adds an ethereal, ghostly quality to the film.
As film focuses on the four main characters, they each have a moment where they look at the camera and therefore at the audience; as a viewer you're very directly connected to their narratives. You're in that story with them. They're looking. You feel like you're part of it.
So what does this technique achieve?
For me, it created a really interesting emotional connection with the film and made the passing on of memory, of trauma, and of experience through generations feel very real.
What does this film say about female experience?
Sound of Falling gives a voice to those women whose stories aren’t often told. For example, we see in a quite matter-of-fact and often brutal way how some of the farmstead staff are treated, and how things are done for the benefit of the men of this small community, while the women suffer. That’s not to say that we don’t see men suffering – we do – and this is also shown with a bluntness of the facts of daily life for this community. The key takeaway is that these stories of female experience are important and through this one location in Germany over a century we can learn so much about women’s stories and about European history.
What was your main feeling you left the cinema with when you saw the film?
I was most definitely in awe of the stylistic control within that filmmaking and really connected with the choices used to present those stories. It’s such an emotional film too.
How do you think audiences will feel once the credits roll?
There are certain moments in the film that make it a challenging watch, but it's an incredibly rewarding film and it’s so so good!
What kind of film goers do you think will like this film?
We're following in the footsteps of well-known European filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and that's a good touchpoint for people. If you like Ingmar Bergman, you’re going to like this one.
There’s also the matter-of-fact bluntness and starkness which makes it reminiscent of a Haneke film.
Finally, if you had to describe this film in three words?
Mesmerising, haunting, and unflinching.