This week’s pick is the definition of niche:  a British indie film about sound design for an Italian giallo film.  If you’re a horror aficionado and interested in film scoring and sound design, you’ll love this film, as I did.  If not, it’s still worth watching, but you’re probably not going to appreciate it as much.

That’s my basic take on Berberian Sound Studio (2012), the story of a meek British sound engineer who finds himself working in a hostile Italian sound studio on an (apparently) very graphic giallo flick.

Berberian Sound Studio is the story of Gilderoy (Toby Jones), who has accepted a job as a sound engineer at Berberian Sound Studio, which is working on The Equestrian Vortex.  Much to his shock, the film is not about horses, but instead is a lurid, occult-style giallo that depicts witches being tortured.  None of that is shown to the audience; instead, we see the tender Gilderoy’s reactions to the footage, which he finds increasingly difficult to view.

Unfortunately, his job is to mix audio, and that includes doing Foley work for the film.  That means recreating the sounds of torture, stabbing, hair-pulling, cutting, etc., using household objects and vegetables—ripping them, cutting them, breaking them.  The work wears on Gilderoy, as he grows increasingly homesick and misses his “Mum” back in England.

A running bit of tension in the film is Gilderoy’s quest to be reimbursed for his flight from London to Rome.  He is shuttled back and forth between various unhelpful and rude Italians, before the accounting department finally refuses to pay the reimbursement, claiming the flight did not exist.  One of the voiceover artists, Sylvia, tells him that the only way he’ll get paid is if he’s rude in return, but when the accounting department claims the flight did not exist, his resolve waivers.

Honestly, not getting reimbursed for his flight was probably the most upsetting part of the film for me.  Gilderoy works hard on the film and puts up with a lot of abuse from the Italians, and they rip him off!

Of course, what’s really interesting is seeing how the sound effects are made.  Early in the film, Gilderoy witnesses a demonstration from two Foley artists, Massimo and Massimo, who slice up a watermelon to mimic the sound of stabbing.  It sounds amazing, and one of the brothers offers Gilderoy a slice of watermelon.  It’s really fascinating seeing how many sounds are produced, and all of the old, 1960s sound equipment that Gilderoy and his colleagues use in their work.

At the same time, there is a detached and soulless feel to the whole process, and it clearly takes a toll on Gilderoy.  Gilderoy, it is implied, primarily worked on nature documentaries and the like, and is uncomfortable with the film’s brutal subject matter.  At one point, he can no longer make the sound effects for a particularly graphic scene.

The second half of the film takes a weird turn, as Gilderoy is suddenly inside the giallo, speaking in fluent Italian, and characters recite passages from his mother’s letters.  We see a few shots of the film at this point, but nothing like the terrible things Gilderoy has seen.  I take this part of the film to be Gilderoy’s mental stability breaking down, and his immersion in his work blurring the lines between fantasy and reality.

Sylvia is an interesting character, too.  After facing the typical abuse of a hostile work environment, she also suffers sexual abuse from the director.  In retaliation, she erases almost all of the recording work for the film, and unspools what looks like miles of recording tape.  While it’s a vindicating moment for her, it means Gilderoy must redo a substantial amount of work, and it’s hear that the film switches to Gilderoy-in-the-giallo.

This flick is not for everyone.  It gets very trippy in the second half.  But for a glimpse into the world of Italian studio sound engineering in the 1960s/1970s, it’s pretty cool.  Definitely check it out.