Lion (2016)

Scene: An Australian couple is struggling with their new adopted child, Mantosh, who suffers from rage and self-harm.

Lion depicts the trials and tribulations of Saroo, who was separated from is family in India at a young age. India and its culture are a main aspect of the film. This means it is a great opportunity to showcase great Indian music, which was done, but in my opinion, not to the extent it should have been. Originally this scene had classical background music with the audio intact, but that doesn’t make sense to me. In this shot we are looking at it from Saroo’s point of view. The Indian instrumentation is a better way to connect the audience to that perspective. It allows us to look at the scene through Saroo’s eyes and the bond between Saroo and the audience becomes stronger. It creates harmony and depth.

In the other clips on this blog I had to cut the audio because there was no version on YouTube without background music, that kept the natural sound intact. For this film though I would keep it silent. The instrument, an Indian shenhai, evokes the shrieks of a small child. Also, the technique of fading the audio out is one I have always been fond of. It makes you focus on the action in the scene and paired with the right music creates a more visceral experience.

Original Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptd_z8aFU3A

*FOR DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES ONLY*