1931
Voices · Off-screen worlds · Recording & playback
M
Directed by Fritz Lang
A murderer's whistle enters the film before he does; voice, repetition and off-screen sound turn recognition itself into suspense.
Way of listening
Off-screen worlds.
What exists beyond the frame?
A curated path through the Landmarks. Highlight any phrase on the page to continue searching across the wider catalogue.
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1956
Off-screen worlds · Silence · Subjective listening
A Man Escaped
Directed by Robert Bresson
A prisoner builds freedom by listening: keys, footsteps, trains and unseen guards turn the walls of a cell into an acoustic map.
1967
Cities · Off-screen worlds · Rhythm
Playtime
Directed by Jacques Tati
The city has no acoustic centre. Footsteps, doors, chairs, machines and fragments of conversation continually redirect attention across Tati's wide frames.
2015
Off-screen worlds · War · Subjective listening
Son of Saul
Directed by László Nemes
A narrow image withholds the camp; voices, machinery and violence beyond the frame construct the world Saul cannot stop moving through.
2017
Nature · Off-screen worlds · Distortion
Zama
Directed by Lucrecia Martel
Animal calls, insects and impossible resonances detach the colonial outpost from realism, as though the landscape refuses to remain background.
2023
Off-screen worlds · Space · Sound–image contradiction
The Zone of Interest
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Domestic routine occupies the image while an extermination camp persists in sound beyond the wall; the unheard cannot be made harmless by remaining unseen.
2018
Space · Cities · Off-screen worlds
Roma
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Long takes are surrounded by fluid, densely layered movement; homes, streets, demonstrations and the sea continue acoustically far beyond the frame.