A tree falls in a forest… and makes no sound. The age-old koan is not said, but the audience understands the reference. This is one of the first images of 32 sounds, a documentary that asks the viewer to actively reflect on various questions about listening. Cinema favors the visual; sound is not only a secondary but often forgotten element of its construction in popular consciousness. Director Sam Green and musician JD Samson (of Le Tigre and MEN) created this film to encourage the opposite, even asking viewers to close their eyes for periods of time to fully engage their ears.
To accommodate the many ways the film can be experienced, there are multiple versions of 32 sounds, each suitable for a different environment. There’s a fairly standard iteration for its theatrical run, with immersive sound coming from the theater speakers. The streaming version has a sound mix suitable for computer speakers and, in particular, headphones. Some theaters will have headphones on hand for audience members, and about three-quarters of the film’s audio goes through these devices instead of the theater’s speakers. (This is the version I previewed.) And finally, there’s a touring variation of the experience, similar to the theatrical headset, but with narration by Green and Sampson performing live music in space.
This blend of film and performance continues a trend that Green has explored in his recent works, such as his “live documentary.” Thousand Thoughts, for several years. If the opportunity arises, I highly recommend visiting one of these hybrid exhibitions of 32 sounds, as its use of headphones absolutely adds to the experience. The film even explains the distinction between familiar theatrical sound (which is focused on immersion) and binaural sound (which is how human ears actually perceive the world around us).
This explanation is just one of the various vignettes that make up the film. It features a myriad of sounds, and it’s not always easy to discern what the focus is, since less than half are definitely identified by on-screen text or narration. But that doesn’t really matter, and the presentation of each sound poses a different question to the viewer. A whoopie cushion serves as part of an explanation of the biological mechanism of hearing. Experimental composer Annea Lockwood invites us to hear music in the everyday sounds of nature. Foley artist Joanna Fang shows how she creates sounds for video games and movies, revealing how what feels “right” to us can often be very different from how things sound in real life. (She creates audio for this shot of the falling tree, including dropping a log, cracking wood joints, and rustling strips of plastic.)
The documentary also draws attention to the importance of sound effect in silence. “4’33” by John Cage is quoted, of course, as well as the work of the deaf sound artist Christine Sun-Kim. The contrasts between absence and presence appear as one of the main themes of 32 sounds, as Green sheds light on recordings he made of conversations with his late father or former documentary subject-turned-friend Nehanda Abiodun. At the British Library, an archived recording of the extinct bird Moho braccatusThe Coupling Appeal demonstrates how even lost history can survive this way. Sound is, after all, not a tangible thing but a phenomenon created in our brain through our interactions with the world, subjective and deeply tied to emotion. The most impressive aspect of 32 sounds is how he emphasizes this through his own play with audio vectors.
32 sounds screens at Film Forum (209 West Houston Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan) April 24-May 4, with Q&A April 28, 29, and 30. Further US screenings are scheduled for May and June. A complete program is available on the website.
