![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_625591e844470.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61addd677237b.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adedfd2f0a6.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adde6cf24d9.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adee9730794.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ae00d3ad223.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adeeeb76549.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade1b093501.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf0047771a.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61aded7a0a64b.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61addc0d873ad.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adfff909feb.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ae0079e0fbb.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61aded1888338.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61addb8460e7e.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade964c1207.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adef54d15a8.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61addfd9f0652.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf0ce53bd0.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf350d62b7.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade44c17564.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adea4bc2a37.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ae258cbbf2a.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade0bc9de12.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf1429646f.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade5f87b6a7.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf2e1a1cab.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61ade51a27880.jpg)
![The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/gallery/1080/na_61adf3c8977f2.jpg)
© BrunoPress
0 / 29 Fotos
'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
- Based on a real-life event, 'Dog Day Afternoon' sees Al Pacino turn in a virtuoso performance as one of two bank robbers whose bungled heist turns into a dangerous hostage situation.
© BrunoPress
1 / 29 Fotos
'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
- Director Sidney Lumet chose not to alleviate any of the high drama with a musical score. Instead, it's the narrative alone that drives along this biographical crime drama to its unfortunate conclusion.
© Getty Images
2 / 29 Fotos
'The Birds' (1963)
- Though acclaimed film music composer Bernard Herrmann was hired by director Alfred Hitchcock as a "sound consultant" for this seminal horror-thriller, there's no discerning soundtrack noticeable throughout the entire 119 minutes.
© BrunoPress
3 / 29 Fotos
'The Birds' (1963)
- Instead, the "Master of Suspense" made do with a series of sound effects to create bird noises using obscure instruments like the trautonium, an early synthesizer invented in the 1930s.
© BrunoPress
4 / 29 Fotos
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
- Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men' is set in the desert landscape of 1980's West Texas.
© BrunoPress
5 / 29 Fotos
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
- The film's possessed of an almost indiscernible score, sparse ambient hums that reflect the minimalist sound sculpture that perfectly complements the dark, dry, and often suffocating tone of the picture.
© BrunoPress
6 / 29 Fotos
'Network' (1976)
- 'Network' centers on a fictional TV news station that's experiencing low ratings. As a result, an anchorman is fired. The station then cynically exploits the sacked journalist for commercial gain, but with tragic results.
© BrunoPress
7 / 29 Fotos
'Network' (1976)
- The only music emanating from this satirical black comedy is that provided by the jingles accompanying the messages flashing up on screen during the shocking climax.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
'M' (1931)
- Ironically, Fritz Lang's first sound movie is bereft of music. Instead, the Austrian-German filmmaker allows the quietness to intensify the drama.
© Getty Images
9 / 29 Fotos
'M' (1931)
- Actor Peter Lorre portrays child serial killer Hans Beckert with a chilling coldness, and it's Beckert that provides the film with its single melody—a whistling rendition of 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
- A supernatural horror movie presented as a found-footage documentary, 'The Blair Witch Project' is one of the most successful independent films of all time, eventually collecting a worldwide gross of US$250 million.
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
- The purportedly "recovered footage" found after three student filmmakers go missing is the film the viewer sees. Had music been added, the audience would have realized the whole thing was a hoax.
© BrunoPress
12 / 29 Fotos
'Rope' (1948)
- Alfred Hitchcock's psychological crime thriller takes place in a single location, a Manhattan apartment in which the body of a murder victim has been hidden.
© Getty Images
13 / 29 Fotos
'Rope' (1948)
- The "limited setting" of the film heightens the claustrophobic atmosphere while the lack of music, save for a scene where a piano is briefly played, amplifies the sense of suspense.
© Getty Images
14 / 29 Fotos
'The Defiant Ones' (1958)
- This adventure drama follows the exploits of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black (Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier), who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive.
© BrunoPress
15 / 29 Fotos
'The Defiant Ones' (1958)
- There is just one piece of music in the movie, a ballad sung by Cullen (Poitier) at the beginning of the film and which serves as the theme for the picture and sets the mood for the entire duration.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
'Winter Light' (1963)
- A cold, harsh, and bitingly cold winter in rural Sweden serves as the bleak backdrop to Ingmar Bergman's drama about a small town pastor and his struggle with a distressing existential crisis and lingering doubt about his Christianity.
© Getty Images
17 / 29 Fotos
'Winter Light' (1963)
- Bereft almost entirely of any musical interludes save for the occasional pipes of an organ floating on the wind, 'Winter Lights' is a dark and brooding tour de force from the Swedish auteur.
© Getty Images
18 / 29 Fotos
'Two Days, One Night' (2014)
- The Dardenne Brothers—the Belgium duo of Luc and Jean-Pierre—wrote and directed this bizarre tale of a factory worker whose work colleagues accept a monetary bonus in exchange for her dismissal.
© BrunoPress
19 / 29 Fotos
'Two Days, One Night' (2014)
- Anyone familiar with the Dardenne canon will know of the siblings' disdain for employing music to heighten the audience's emotion. 'Two Days, One Night' is no exception.
© BrunoPress
20 / 29 Fotos
'The Homecoming' (1973)
- Back in 1973, English theater director Peter Hall made this British-American drama based on the play by Harold Pinter. As a playwright, Pinter's work is all about words. So who was Hall to entertain the thought of adding music?
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
'The Homecoming' (1973)
- Indeed, 'The Homecoming' is a piece of theater made on location. Much of the story takes place indoors, with the characters confined to one room.
© Getty Images
22 / 29 Fotos
'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' (2011)
- Co-winner of the Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' is a Turkish production that tells the story of a group of men who search for a corpse on the Anatolian steppe.
© BrunoPress
23 / 29 Fotos
'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' (2011)
- The men, from different backgrounds and social classes, discuss a myriad of issues during their quest for the missing corpse. In fact, the conversation is so interesting and stimulating that music would only serve as a distraction.
© BrunoPress
24 / 29 Fotos
'The White Ribbon' (2009)
- Shot in black and white to underpin its dark depiction of society and family in a northern German village just before the outbreak of the First World War, 'The White Ribbon' is written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke.
© BrunoPress
25 / 29 Fotos
'The White Ribbon' (2009)
- Christian Berger's rich, sober cinematography is simply exquisite. Narrated speech over and above the dialogue does away with any need for musical interpretation.
© BrunoPress
26 / 29 Fotos
'A Separation' (2011)
- In 'A Separation,' Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi focuses on an Iranian middle-age couple who split up, and the devastating effect it has on their daughter.
© BrunoPress
27 / 29 Fotos
'A Separation' (2011)
- As the guilt and morality of divorce is explored, there's little need for any underlying music score to emphasize the anger and tension that slowly bubbles up throughout the film. Sources: (New York Post) (Better Marketing)
© BrunoPress
28 / 29 Fotos
© BrunoPress
0 / 29 Fotos
'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
- Based on a real-life event, 'Dog Day Afternoon' sees Al Pacino turn in a virtuoso performance as one of two bank robbers whose bungled heist turns into a dangerous hostage situation.
© BrunoPress
1 / 29 Fotos
'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
- Director Sidney Lumet chose not to alleviate any of the high drama with a musical score. Instead, it's the narrative alone that drives along this biographical crime drama to its unfortunate conclusion.
© Getty Images
2 / 29 Fotos
'The Birds' (1963)
- Though acclaimed film music composer Bernard Herrmann was hired by director Alfred Hitchcock as a "sound consultant" for this seminal horror-thriller, there's no discerning soundtrack noticeable throughout the entire 119 minutes.
© BrunoPress
3 / 29 Fotos
'The Birds' (1963)
- Instead, the "Master of Suspense" made do with a series of sound effects to create bird noises using obscure instruments like the trautonium, an early synthesizer invented in the 1930s.
© BrunoPress
4 / 29 Fotos
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
- Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, 'No Country for Old Men' is set in the desert landscape of 1980's West Texas.
© BrunoPress
5 / 29 Fotos
'No Country for Old Men' (2007)
- The film's possessed of an almost indiscernible score, sparse ambient hums that reflect the minimalist sound sculpture that perfectly complements the dark, dry, and often suffocating tone of the picture.
© BrunoPress
6 / 29 Fotos
'Network' (1976)
- 'Network' centers on a fictional TV news station that's experiencing low ratings. As a result, an anchorman is fired. The station then cynically exploits the sacked journalist for commercial gain, but with tragic results.
© BrunoPress
7 / 29 Fotos
'Network' (1976)
- The only music emanating from this satirical black comedy is that provided by the jingles accompanying the messages flashing up on screen during the shocking climax.
© Getty Images
8 / 29 Fotos
'M' (1931)
- Ironically, Fritz Lang's first sound movie is bereft of music. Instead, the Austrian-German filmmaker allows the quietness to intensify the drama.
© Getty Images
9 / 29 Fotos
'M' (1931)
- Actor Peter Lorre portrays child serial killer Hans Beckert with a chilling coldness, and it's Beckert that provides the film with its single melody—a whistling rendition of 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' by Edvard Grieg.
© Getty Images
10 / 29 Fotos
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
- A supernatural horror movie presented as a found-footage documentary, 'The Blair Witch Project' is one of the most successful independent films of all time, eventually collecting a worldwide gross of US$250 million.
© Getty Images
11 / 29 Fotos
'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
- The purportedly "recovered footage" found after three student filmmakers go missing is the film the viewer sees. Had music been added, the audience would have realized the whole thing was a hoax.
© BrunoPress
12 / 29 Fotos
'Rope' (1948)
- Alfred Hitchcock's psychological crime thriller takes place in a single location, a Manhattan apartment in which the body of a murder victim has been hidden.
© Getty Images
13 / 29 Fotos
'Rope' (1948)
- The "limited setting" of the film heightens the claustrophobic atmosphere while the lack of music, save for a scene where a piano is briefly played, amplifies the sense of suspense.
© Getty Images
14 / 29 Fotos
'The Defiant Ones' (1958)
- This adventure drama follows the exploits of two escaped prisoners, one white and one black (Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier), who are shackled together and who must co-operate in order to survive.
© BrunoPress
15 / 29 Fotos
'The Defiant Ones' (1958)
- There is just one piece of music in the movie, a ballad sung by Cullen (Poitier) at the beginning of the film and which serves as the theme for the picture and sets the mood for the entire duration.
© Getty Images
16 / 29 Fotos
'Winter Light' (1963)
- A cold, harsh, and bitingly cold winter in rural Sweden serves as the bleak backdrop to Ingmar Bergman's drama about a small town pastor and his struggle with a distressing existential crisis and lingering doubt about his Christianity.
© Getty Images
17 / 29 Fotos
'Winter Light' (1963)
- Bereft almost entirely of any musical interludes save for the occasional pipes of an organ floating on the wind, 'Winter Lights' is a dark and brooding tour de force from the Swedish auteur.
© Getty Images
18 / 29 Fotos
'Two Days, One Night' (2014)
- The Dardenne Brothers—the Belgium duo of Luc and Jean-Pierre—wrote and directed this bizarre tale of a factory worker whose work colleagues accept a monetary bonus in exchange for her dismissal.
© BrunoPress
19 / 29 Fotos
'Two Days, One Night' (2014)
- Anyone familiar with the Dardenne canon will know of the siblings' disdain for employing music to heighten the audience's emotion. 'Two Days, One Night' is no exception.
© BrunoPress
20 / 29 Fotos
'The Homecoming' (1973)
- Back in 1973, English theater director Peter Hall made this British-American drama based on the play by Harold Pinter. As a playwright, Pinter's work is all about words. So who was Hall to entertain the thought of adding music?
© Getty Images
21 / 29 Fotos
'The Homecoming' (1973)
- Indeed, 'The Homecoming' is a piece of theater made on location. Much of the story takes place indoors, with the characters confined to one room.
© Getty Images
22 / 29 Fotos
'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' (2011)
- Co-winner of the Grand Prix at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, 'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' is a Turkish production that tells the story of a group of men who search for a corpse on the Anatolian steppe.
© BrunoPress
23 / 29 Fotos
'Once Upon a Time in Anatolia' (2011)
- The men, from different backgrounds and social classes, discuss a myriad of issues during their quest for the missing corpse. In fact, the conversation is so interesting and stimulating that music would only serve as a distraction.
© BrunoPress
24 / 29 Fotos
'The White Ribbon' (2009)
- Shot in black and white to underpin its dark depiction of society and family in a northern German village just before the outbreak of the First World War, 'The White Ribbon' is written and directed by Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke.
© BrunoPress
25 / 29 Fotos
'The White Ribbon' (2009)
- Christian Berger's rich, sober cinematography is simply exquisite. Narrated speech over and above the dialogue does away with any need for musical interpretation.
© BrunoPress
26 / 29 Fotos
'A Separation' (2011)
- In 'A Separation,' Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi focuses on an Iranian middle-age couple who split up, and the devastating effect it has on their daughter.
© BrunoPress
27 / 29 Fotos
'A Separation' (2011)
- As the guilt and morality of divorce is explored, there's little need for any underlying music score to emphasize the anger and tension that slowly bubbles up throughout the film. Sources: (New York Post) (Better Marketing)
© BrunoPress
28 / 29 Fotos
The power of silence: movies that grip you without a musical score
Films devoid of a soundtrack
© Getty Images
Music is considered one of the most important elements in cinema, and has long been regarded as playing a key role in storytelling. But there are plenty of movies out there that do away with a soundtrack. Indeed, it's possible to create a powerful picture without any music at all. So, what are the movies whose visual and narrative appeal is so strong that a musical score is unnecessary?
Click through and sound out the films devoid of a soundtrack.
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
![Movies that make you root for the bad guys](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_666017c025b57.jpg)
![The most memorable taglines in cinema history](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_66601fd45f5a3.jpg)
![Amazing images from the early days of cinema](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_66508cb85df64.jpg)
![30 movies that turn 40 in 2024](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_664c5df836da0.jpg)
![Celebrating 100 years of Columbia Pictures](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_66448005cac77.jpg)
![From page to screen: How books are adapted into movies](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_663b69ae5bccb.jpg)
![Over 13 hours in the makeup chair: could you do it?](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_661fe72304d5f.jpg)
![30 must-watch foreign films to expand your cinematic horizons](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_661fb5d6abe76.jpg)
![What exactly is Technicolor?](https://media-manager.starsinsider.com/640/na_6613dc37cae25.jpg)
MOST READ
- Last Hour
- Last Day
- Last Week
-
1
CELEBRITY Relationships
-
2
FOOD Global gastronomy
The future of food: 2024 trends and innovations shaping the culinary landscape
-
3
LIFESTYLE Nostalgia
-
4
HEALTH Detox
-
5
TRAVEL Ranking
-
6
-
7
HEALTH Rare disease
-
8
LIFESTYLE Photography
-
9
LIFESTYLE Relationships
-
10
LIFESTYLE Marriage