by Jaime Davis
The Fixer at Moviejawn

I’m pulling out my film school education for this one, so get ready! For those unfamiliar (or who can’t remember, because I always forget which is which) diegetic sound is when the source is visible, implied, or explained. It can be actors speaking dialogue, noises from a car crash happening on screen, or music playing from a clear source. I prefer non-diegetic sound though – the kind that doesn’t exist in the narrative universe being presented. The actors don’t know it’s there! Where is it coming from?! Who cares! Add in slow-motion and you’ve got a recipe for something that looks super cool. Here are a few of my favorite non-diegetic sound moments, featuring some pretty sweet slow-motion shenanigans, that never fail to inspire and lift me up. 

Sid & Nancy – Taxi to Heaven (Pray for Rain)
I was obsessed with the Sex Pistols for a solid year once, and that obsession fully transferred to a devotion to Sid and Nancy. I read books, you guys. Books, plural! I watched all the docs on the Sex Pistols, and even went so far as to visit Nancy Spungen’s grave (which isn’t far outside of Philadelphia). Heroin addiction movies are like horror movies to me – Requiem for a Dream, The Basketball Diaries, Trainspotting (to a certain extent, because some of that shit is just funny as hell) – I have a hard time handling them and get super freaked out. So naturally Sid & Nancy simultaneously repels and attracts me. But the soundtrack is so amazing – go listen to Junk by The Pogues. And Haunted by The Pogues. And Love Kills by Joe Strummer. Seriously, go. I’ll wait. {… … …} Awesome, right? There’s a scene closer to the end of Sid & Nancy where the two are leaning against a filthy dumpster, very sweetly kissing in goddamn slow-motion, while trash literally falls from the motherfucking sky (this is late 70’s Manhattan, after all). It’s love among ruins and all that, which just gets my romantic sensibilities all aflutter. Sighhhh. I love love.

Watch (at the 0:35 second mark): https://youtu.be/gnF9zzrgnQI

The Social Network – In the Hall of the Mountain King (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)
You might watch the Henley Royal Regatta sequence and say ‘Hey Jaime, where’s the slow motion?’ And I would say ‘Hey you, it’s there!’ It’s just not immediately recognizable. It’s not like superrrrr slow-mo. Shot with a tiltshift-like focus effect, this scene somehow manages to make something as innocuous as boat racing seem intense, electrifying, and (dare I say it) interesting. Now ok, ok – the Henley Royal Regatta is like, the World Cup of rowing. So it’s already intense! And electrifying! And interesting! It doesn’t feel like it entirely fits with the rest of the film, and maybe that’s why I love it so much.

Watch: https://youtu.be/DH3Sf6-1wGk

Rushmore – A Quick One While He’s Away (The Who)
This one’s kinda obvious but it has to make my list. Because, duh. Who doesn’t love the part where Max gets all angsty and feeds bees into Blume’s hotel room with a rubber tube? And then, in all his slow-motion glory, sticks his gum to the hotel wall. And to The Man, essentially. You gotta love that Max Fischer. Hero.

Watch: https://youtu.be/sL-kvgOGmzc

Donnie Darko – Head Over Heels (Tears for Fears)
There’s something about Head Over Heels that just makes me ridiculously, stupendously, idiotically happy. The second I hear the opening strains I escape into some strange, woozy, rapturous haze. Where did Jaime go? Oh she’s just riding the Head Over Heels wave – she’ll be back in approximately three minutes and 51 seconds. I have no idea why this happens to me; I can’t say I particularly love Tears for Fears that much (although my little brother is one of their biggest fans). But this song man, Good Gravy, this song. The first time I saw the high school scene in Donnie Darko that plays like a music video, where time is simultaneously sped up and slowed down, I promptly lost my shit. Richard Kelly is kind of a genius – where you been, boo? Can Hollywood call him and put him back to work please?

Watch: https://youtu.be/qsyfGwlf_l0

Buffalo ’66 – Heart of the Sunrise (Yes)
Preface: Vincent Gallo is not my favorite person. I don’t love his entire catalog of work, and he comes off somewhat misogynistic and creepy at times. Maybe all the time? I’ll be diplomatic and go with “at times.” What I do love about Vincent Gallo: that time he was on 21 Jump Street (the tv show). And that he made Buffalo ’66. I had just moved to Philly and started film school when it came out, and there was something about the film that felt very inspiring to me. So many great scenes and lines (Ben Gazzara lip-synching to Christina Ricci, “We’re spanning time,” all the Anjelica Huston). But the best part, for me, is the strip club scene near the end where everything comes full circle. The slow motion, cinematography, lighting, and editing are all off the charts, the panning freeze frame ahead of its time. And yes to Yes. Perfect use of Heart of the Sunrise. 

Watch:  https://youtu.be/36tXOm0LGAE

Honorable Mention 1: Morvern Callar – Some Velvet Morning (Lee Hazlewood)
There are so many emotionally intense things happening in Morvern Callar, namely that Morvern’s boyfriend is no longer with us. I won’t say much more than that. After finding some mix tapes her boyfriend made her, she listens to one while heading into her job at a local small-town grocery store. I’ve listened to mixes that exes have made me and felt acute loss, like listening to something a ghost made. But Morvern is actually listening to something an actual ghost made her; I can only imagine how painful and intense that might feel. Some Velvet Morning guides her as she slowly enters the market while her slack, melancholy expression speaks volumes, even if her voice can’t, and won’t. Honorable mention because the sound is actually diegetic – Morvern is wearing headphones. D’oh!

Watch: https://youtu.be/GL6yOK8q2-E

Honorable Mention 2: American Hustle – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John)
How dare I reference something from a David O. Russell schlock-fest! But I do love this whole scene (and only this scene – the rest of the movie is a full-on mess). The fog when Hollywood Hunk Bradley Cooper and Amy Adams show up! And Amy Adams’ hair! And Bradley Cooper’s hair! And Michael Peña! Give me all the Michael Peña. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the perfect song to showcase Amy Adams’ despair at seeing the man she loves with his wife on his arm, while Christian Bale’s hairpiece squirms uncomfortably. Honorable mention because there’s actually very little slow motion in it. And because David O. Russell.

Watch: https://youtu.be/15OIS443rBQ