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What Is The Theme Of Silence In The Blue Angel

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The Blue Angel is a German film directed by Josef von Sternberg, from 1930. In 1929, there a clear division in film, the division was between sound and silence. Sound was a major attraction to audiences during the Great Depression. The Blue Angel was Germany’s first complete movie with speech. There are four types of soundtrack materials in films, such as speech, music, noise, and silence. I am focusing on silence, which contains three subcategories, such as absolute, virtual, and selective. The characters in The Blue Angel who are associated with silence are Professor Rath and the clown. Silence for both characters signifies madness and sadness. Firstly, the two characters in The Blue Angel that I associate with silence are the clown …show more content…

Professor Rath does not react to the maid throwing his bird in the fire and remains silent. The silence in that scene can be categorized as virtual because there was a room tone. Secondly, the qualities that are associated with silence in The Blue Angel are madness and sadness. An example, of madness, is when Professor Rath is in the strait jacket he is silent and deranged. Additionally, this scene is an example of virtual silence because a room tone can be heard. In comparison, to the start of the film, Professor Rath becomes mad as the film progresses, although he was silent in various parts of the film. Furthermore, Professor Rath’s foolishness led him to become mad because he failed to realize he was throwing away his life. Throughout the five years he is married to Lola Lola he becomes more and more silent as the years pass. Especially, in the scene where he returns to his classroom and dies this is an example of him realizing he should have never left his position. Additionally, this scene is an example of absolute silence because you do not hear any sound while he is slumped over on the desk and the man attempts to wake him up. Another example of madness is when Professor Rath is aiding the magician in front of his former colleagues. In this scene, Professor Rath is portrayed as a fool and it is degrading because of the intelligent man he once was. The foolishness led

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