Bleu

Sound is linked so closely with emotion, although I have some difficulty dissecting the symbolic role of sound, it is unlike other sensory symbols that may pass without you noticing.  At the foundation, I can contribute the exhilaration I felt to the sound, which appeals to the viewer's instincts.  Sound mainly served as an element of surprise to the viewer and tension to the storyline, because it seemed to occur in loud accents out of nearly silent scenes, like when the car crashed in the field and the man being beaten in the alley runs and bangs through Julie's apartment complex.  Since the movie isn't dependent on dialogue, I believe the director used other sounds to mirror the emotional state of the characters.  For example, when Julie breaks the window in the hospital after discovering her family is dead, it illustrates her internal conflict and "breaking point," but also the pivotal moment she tries to break from her past and live independently of everything. The silence is contemplative but temporary; it seems Julie wants this solitary life of silence, but sound and music always creeps in, because it is impossible to live uninfluenced. For a majority of the movie, I feel like Julie reacted negatively to the orchestral music- it was haunting, it was the past she wanted to forget, yet she couldn't escape it.  The music was equally representative of what was dead and gone, yet motivating and driving.  It was a symbol of unreachable peace that died with her husband and daughter.  However, the music motivates Julie, and comes to represent creation: creating new music, new relationships, and new life- which lends to a new kind of peace.