Anxiety of Noise

Although noise may vary in definition, it will always be interconnected with sound. Since sound is "always already" present, everyone and everything produces a sound, it is inevitable that noise also will be ever present. How noise is defined depends on how a person views sound. Noise is generally seen as unpleasant sounds, whereas a multitude of pleasing sounds produces music. Noise is similar to the definition of anxiety in that noise is often too much sound or the lack thereof, for silence can be very noisy. In Lone Wolf and Cub, a film that exemplifies too much sound and the lack thereof, noise comes from the male and female voices, the clipping of the soundtrack and the siren-like glissando that periodically presents itself throughout the film.

One possible examination of noise is to look at Lone Wolf and Cub through Kahn's perception of linguistic noise. Kahn looks at linguistic noise in relation to people with hearing difficulties as well as the encounter of one with a foreign language. When one has hearing trouble and can hear very little to no sound, noise will take on a meaning that may or may not be correct (Kahn 40). Without comprehension of a foreign language, the tonal mumbles the speakers produce could be described as noise. In Lone Wolf and Cub, too many sounds that are unidentifiable can produce noise causing the viewer to seek meaning in the language. Kahn says that when listening to a foreign language, "Although at times a person may listen very intently and yet go away with few tangible rewards, it nevertheless demonstrates that the urge against all odds to continuously make meaning from linguistic noise is very strong" (40). While listening to the Japanese language in Lone Wolf and Cub, one could easily see the male voice as similar to the low chiming bells and the female voices similar to the high pitched bells. The males have a low mumbling timbre throughout the film, whereas the females have a high staccato yell. The bells coincide with scenes pertaining to a conflict between the men and women. When the women are approaching Lone Wolf to kill him high clanging bells sound similar to their shrieking voices. The shrieking bells act as a battle cry that ends when everyone except the leader is defeated. When Lone Wolf is walking away from the leader of the women for the last time low bells chime, the bells chime his final victory over her. Although the bells correspond with the scenes, they are extremely loud and the product of too much bell sound produces noise.

One manner in which Lone Wolf and Cub produces noise is through its abundance of sound. When the continuous bell chimes grow louder, the sound over exceeds the speakers and causes clipping. The clipping, caused from too much sound, produces noise that overshadows any other sounds present in the scene. The overabundance of sound and the clipping cause even more noise which makes it hard for the viewer to concentrate on anything else. Another time when noise is produced from too much sound is the collaboration of bells, drums, flutes and other various instruments. Before every battle a constant, ritualistic drumming plays accompanied by a woody flute sound. When these sounds are combined, along with the glissando of a siren-type sound, a dissonant noise is inevitable.

Noise is experienced by the dissonance of the loud scenes but also by the silence. Clanging bells occur throughout the film in a variety of ways. At times the bells are accompanied with a siren-type glissando, other times the bells resemble the low tolling timbre of the masculine voices in the film. When the glissando is heard alongside the bells, no matter how melodic the bells may have been, the result is sudden dissonance. In one scene, after Lone Wolf's son counts to five while sitting in a bathtub, a series of dissonant bells chime. The repetitious bells plus unidentified clanking is added to a glissando that resembles whistling sirens. The abundant noise creates a dissonance that is extremely loud and suddenly extremely quiet. Just as the glissando of a siren demands attention, so does silence. When a scene in Lone Wolf and Cub switches immediately from loud noises to complete silence, the silence demands the viewer's attention. Since everyday life is centered on various sounds, it is natural to be startled by the sudden lack of sound. The silence in Lone Wolf and Cub is almost as deafening as the dissonant scenes that come before it because it is sudden and unexpected. Just like a dissonant glissando will attract attention because it is out of the ordinary, a sudden silence will demand attention.

Lone Wolf and Cub demands attention at the very start through its stark resemblance to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. One almost expects to see a character clapping coconuts together in an unsynchronized manner, showing the audience that the coconuts are supposed to resemble the horse hooves and that the film does in fact realize the sound is ridiculous. Another similarity to Monty Python is the way the knighted figure, similar to the black knight, runs but does not appear to be getting any closer to Lone Wolf, like Lancelot's advance in the Holy Grail. Since Monty Python and the Holy Grail was produced three years after Lone Wolf and Cub, one wonders if the similarities are pure coincidence or if the boys of Monty Python based their material off the Japanese martial arts film.

Noise, no matter how it is defined, will be linked with the term "sound." One way to view noise is as an abundance of sound or the lack thereof. Lone Wolf and Cub varies dramatically from too much sound and complete silence. When too much sound is surrounding the viewer, dissonant noise occurs. The silence that immediately follows can also be considered noise for sound is purposefully missing. The uncanny absence of sound is noisy and attention-grabbing to an audience who had just adjusted to clipping and clanking bells a moment before. Lone Wolf and Cub exemplifies the extremes of noise through its combination of linguistic noise, dissonance, glissando and silence.

Woks Cited

Lone Wolf and Cub. Dirs. Kenji Misumi. Perfs. Tomisaburo Wakayama, Fumio Watanabe. Katsu Production Co. Ltd., 1972.