1970′s Italian giallo is not a film movement that is as widely celebrated as most others. It doesn’t get the same focus as German expressionism or surrealism but it’s nonetheless as striking, and it’s these films that writer/director Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio pays homage to.
Gilderoy (Toby Jones) is a timid English sound engineer used to working on picturesque nature documentaries. However, he is summoned to work on Italian giallo film The Equestrian Vortex and must do sound work on various horrifying scenes of torture. After days upon weeks of stabbing vegetables and being bullied by the film’s director and producer, the disturbing scenes he’s providing sound for slowly start seeping into his consciousness and he starts losing his grip on reality.
Berberian Sound Studio is a real assault on the senses. The vividness of colour used is striking, with reds and yellows in particular, as often the case in giallo flicks, accentuated to the fore. As you’d expect, the sound in the film is also very important and quite spectacular. Virtually every scene is defined by its impressive use of sound, whether it is the click of tape recorders, screaming actresses, or the complete absence of sound entirely. Here, the lack of sound can be just as arresting.
The sound is particularly important as we are never actually shown anything of the film Gilderoy is working on other than the lurid title sequence. Therefore, we only have the sound and dialogue to judge how distressing it is. This impressive visual and aural presentation of the film is outstandingly brought together by Chris Dickens’ editing, frantic one minute and drawn out the next.
Whereas the film excels in its presentation, it falls down somewhat on narrative, namely in its final third. Up to that point it builds slowly and draws a surprising amount of suspense out of the often banal environment of the sound studio. Something as dull as Gilderoy trying to recover his flight expenses somehow takes on sinister undertones. Toby Jones is excellent as the mild-mannered Gilderoy and there are a few touching moments that show his passion for his work. For example, when he imitates a UFO using nothing but a lightbulb and a radiator, it shows just how inventive the craft of foley really is.
However, when we do get to the film’s final third, the intriguing, brooding story developed thus far all of a sudden becomes utterly devoid of narrative coherence. It’s clearly a comment on Gilderoy’s state of mind, but it turns what was an intriguingly unsettling story into something almost incomprehensible. The ideas displayed are interesting and as visually and aurally impressive as what’s gone before but it does feel like somewhat of a let down.
For sound and film tech buffs, Berberian Sound Studio is no doubt a treat with the various pieces of equipment used, and it no doubt will resonate more with those familiar with Italian giallo. For those not well versed in either, there’s less to grab hold of but it’s a stimulating cinematic experience nonetheless.
Nice!!! I’ve never heard of this film and my knowledge and I’m not well versed in that movement. But live posts that serve as introductions for me! Great job my friend.
Thanks Keith! Always nice to stumble across new films. This one is well worth a watch if just for the impressive sound and visuals.
Gonna watch it this week. Really looking forward to seeing how they incorporate the Broadcast score. Sweet review!
Thanks Luke. Hope you like, it’s an interesting little film.
Excellent write-up! I love giallo films, so will have to give this one a try!
Thanks Georgina
I haven’t actually seen any giallo films and this isn’t giallo as such, more a nod to those films, but if you do like them then there’s likely to be stuff here that’ll interest you.
Oh, oops! Sorry for the misunderstanding there! Either way, I’ll be sure to check this film out : )
As you like giallo stuff, i’d be interested to hear your thoughts. Maybe it’s not a giallo homage at all and I’m talking nonsense! Ha!
Nice review. I heard about this a while ago and I’m really interested in seeing it. I like Toby Jones, so I hope this is good.
Thanks man. Jones is really good in this, pretty perfect casting to be honest. It’s pretty weird at times, especially towards the end but still an intriguing watch.
I just couldn’t get into this one. It’s visually interesting but the story just fell flat for me.
Pretty much the same with me to be honest. It looked and sounded brilliant but the final third just went a little too leftfield for my liking.
Excellent review man! I’ve had a draft of this lying for a while and we agree on several things. I left it a while to settle in but it still takes a bizarre narrative turn and doesn’t fully recover.
Cheers Mark! Yeah it left me really confused as to what the hell was going on. Just when I thought I was starting to get back on track with it, it would do something else that completely threw me. I read a theory that none of the events in the film actually existed and that it was all in his head having killed his mother! Bizarre! Very intrigued to read your review mate.
Seen some mixed stuff for this. Some say its incredible, others say its terrible. Polarising film by all accounts. Nice write up as always buddy
To be honest, i’m somewhere in the middle! I enjoyed it for the most part but couldn’t get on with the ending. You should check it out the mate, it does have some horror themes running through it. Thanks Tyson!
Very good review. I am posting this tomorrow, I have to say I was disappointed after hearing it was the next classic! It is certainly an audio trip but ultimately it doesn’t deliver on it’s promise and as you rightly say it falls away, quite badly in my view. definitely not as good or as bad as some quarters would have it but just average for me.
Yep, sounds like we’re on the same page. I was a bit disappointed with it too. Some people have eulogised over it but I don’t feel it’s as good as it was made out to be by some. I thought the final third was just too self indulgent. Looking forward to your review mate.
well, you will see tomorrow, but it’s pretty much summed up in your last bit – self indulgent. TBH I was bit gutted it was so disappointing, I had high hopes after reading the same eulogising. ho-hum…
Yeah I had high hopes too and it was a bit of a let down. I was expecting more to be honest. Not the classic many have suggested it is.
not classic at all, perhaps I have missed something, but that level of ambiguity really hinders any designs on it being classic. Hopefully someone can convince me otherwise because a part of me wants to like it.
I really want to like it too because I think it’s an incredibly intriguing film and it could have been really clever. Who knows? Maybe it is clever but we’re just not clever enough to see it! Ha!
or it was too clever for its own good
Yeah probably that
I’ve never heard about this film before, but Toby Jones is a great actor. Not sure I’m all that enthused to see it though Chris.
It’s a difficult one to recommend to be honest Ruth. It’s impressively put together, it looks and sounds brilliant but its narrative lets it down, I feel. Still, I know you quite enjoyed Holy Motors so you may like this.
I notice this film when it won an award, i cannot recall what it is, but im intrigued with the title, so i think, ill give this a watch, albeit i find it weird.
, great review sir 
Thank you
It is definitely a bit weird! The title is a strange one but it simply refers to the name of the studio the sound is being recorded in, not actually that fancy really!
Great write-up, Chris! I think I’ll check this movie out.
Cheers Fernando. It’s certainly an experience! With the polarising reviews though, it’s hard to say whether someone will likely enjoy it or not.
Awesome review man. I have been hearing about this a fair bit recently. I am not that familiar with giallo films though. Do you think that is an issue with watching the film?
Thanks! I’m not familiar with giallo films either, I’ve not seen any! There might be certain stuff you miss out on (not that i’d know if i’d missed out on it!) if you don’t know the genre that well but I doubt it would alienate you from it. The ending might, however
Nice one Chris, interesting review. This is on my Lovefilm list and I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I’d never heard the term Foley before so thanks for that, have just been looking into it more now. Sounds like a very unusual film. I’m not really familiar with giallo either but will read up on it when I have it ready to watch.
Thanks! Foley was a new one to me to be honest Stu, i stumbled across it when researching the film. But I like that it actually has its own term!
It is a very unusual film. It’s weird enough for two thirds but goes proper crazy in the last third. Apparently it’s quite David Lynch-esque. Shockingly, I’ve never seen a David Lynch film so can’t confirm or deny the comparison but it’s apparently quite similar.
Great review! I heard of the film few times before and I definitely want to see it, it sounds like a very well executed story.
Thanking you! It is well executed for the most part and then it seems to just abandon the story completely in favour of weird dream-like sequences where it’s almost impossible to tell what’s real and what’s not. I would still say it’s worth a watch though.
Another one I’d really like to see soon! Great review.
Thanks! I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, it’s an odd one!