Last
time we looked at what makes music diegetic or non-diegetic in a movie. While often
it is clear which of these terms is applicable to a scene, sometimes, it can be
rather ambiguous. Today we will look at a great example of this ambiguity in
the 1993 Krzysztof Kieslowski film Blue from
his Three Colors trilogy.
Blue begins with a
fatal car accident that kills world-renown composer Patrice de Courcy and his
young daughter, leaving behind widow, Julie Vignon. While Julie lies in a
hospital bed early on in the film, she watches the funeral over a small
television. An ensemble provides music for the funeral on screen, performing
one of Patrice’s compositions. The scene begins 9:10 into the film.
This
is a clear example of diegetic music. The music source is the television and
Julie can obviously hear the music as she watches the funeral. What comes next is
a bit more difficult to label. Begin watching at 11:20.
This
scene begins as Julie is awoken by the same music heard during the funeral. She
can clearly hear the music as she seems startled by it and listens intently. It
cannot be heard by others around her, however, as is clear when the journalist
appears for an interview. No source is shown for this music. Is it perhaps in
Julie’s head?
What
do you think? How would you label the music in this scene?
