Sound/Music, film language - analysis Touching the Void (2003)

Music analysis of Touching the Void.

With his leg broken, climber Joe Simpson is trapped in a deep crevasse. To survive he must escape! The first image that we see is of Joe struggling to escape from the crevasse at the start of his climb. As he slowly makes his way up the slope to the surface there is a deep orchestral sound, the non-diegetic music that plays during the climb symbolises Joe's struggle as he ascends out of the abyss. There is no dialogue at this point in the film and this clip also lacks any ambient sounds, this symbolises how totally alone Joe is. He is trapped on a mountain, not only is there nobody for him to talk to eliminating the need for dialogue but the ambient sounds lack because there is no animals, no traffic or any of the familiar background sounds we the audience are used to, the mountain in which Joe resides and needs to escape is totally baron and uninhabitable. The only Diegetic sounds in the clip apart from the sound of the ice cracking and shifting under his weight is the sounds he verbalises such as heavy breathing, grunting and moaning.

There is a sudden cut from Joe's climbing to the mountainous landscape. The music has built up into a crescendo, it has peaked and when he breaks through the soft layer of snow and emerges onto the mountain top the sound changes sharply, it becomes louder and launches into a full orchestral sound which mirrors the grandeur of the scenery which surrounds Joe as he struggles to free himself from the crevasse. The intended effect of this is to be uplifting and almost mesmerises the audience, the music is accompanied by a series of profound and moving establishing shots showing how insignificant Joe is in comparison to the vast, untouched mountain. 

The sound bridge that is employed to help the transition from underground to above ground passes by sharply and the change is stark, there is a deep sense of accomplishment and relief, Joe has made it to the surface successfully. 

As Joe lies on the snow, having escaped from the crevasse, the music changes again and with this change in the musical score the mood also adjusts, the music becomes deeper it almost sounds like a prolonged echoing sound, with this comes a deep sense of foreboding and realisation. Joe realises that his climb out of the crevasse was a mere walk in the park when compared to what lies ahead - his real climb hasn't even begun, when he realises how far he has gone already and how exhausted he is. The stark realisation of how far he has got left to go with little provisions and a badly broken leg is enough to fill the audience with dread.