SSC Film Studies

The Godfather: Sound Analysis

The scene begins with Michael and Sollozzo seated in an Italian restaurant. Before even speaking, each sound around them is heightened which portrays Michael's alerted state. Why he is panicked is a mystery as this meeting was called to call a truce therefore this immediately informs the audience that something worth Michael shaking at every sound is about to happen. For example, the cutlery obnoxiously clangs together then straight after the wine is poured and each trickle is heard. Though these are diegetic sounds, they magnify the intensity of the atmosphere.

Shortly before the wine is poured, the waiter begins to pop the wine cork which is highly significant as this foreshadows the eventual fate of one of the mobsters seated before it. As Michael is showing erratic behaviour already, its not likely to be him. As the wine is slowly being opened, the process makes a squeakier noise each time, deliberately a tantalising wait for it to happen and slowly but surely it does. This is just like the thoughts in Michael's mind.

An overhead train can be heard throughout the scene which conveys the chaos going on inside Michael's head. Though when Michael is in conversation with Sollozzo the train appears to be quieter, as soon as Michael starts pondering to himself and even when he finds the gun in the bathroom, the sound of the train becomes so loud that at one point it sounds like it is going to come off the rails. Just like Michael's state of mind. During this time when he's finding the gun it is seen at a high angle and Michael is positioned between two doorways therefore he appears trapped which only panics him more as the train gets louder. Eventually when Michael sits back down from the bathroom and finding his gun the train seems to be become louder and louder again. This gives an audience an insight that he's panicking once again. It is visibly clear that Michael cannot concentrate as Sollozzo speaks to him but he isn't digesting it whatsoever. His eyes are unable to remain on one thing and instead they're attaching themselves to anything and everything in the room. As this happens, the camera zooms closer and closer showing the audience closely just how much uncomfortable Michael is. As his eyes scatter the room and the camera zooms closer and closer the train appears louder and louder, almost like a shrieking alarm constantly reminding Michael what to do which only seems to panic him more. All the noise comes to an immediate halt once Michael has shot Sollozzo and then it remains eerily quiet. The audience now know that the reason Michael and Sollozzo's conversation in Italian didn't have any subtitles was because the audience didn't need to know what was being said. It was meaningless because Michael's plan all along was to shoot Sollozzo so this truce that was being spoken of in the restaurant was never going to happen.