In Guy Ritchie’s movie Snatch, there is a fight scene where Mickey the Pikey (played by Brad Pitt) has to fight a big boxer in an underground fight club. The fight scene is very intense because a group of gangsters and boxing promoters need Mickey to lose. As a gypsy, there is no telling if Mickey is going to listen to instructions and lose or do this his own way. Suspense is enhanced through the sounds within the scene.
The sounds in this scene are what make the scene what it is. Every single sound choice has been carefully thought out and attention to detail definitely paid off. Specific sounds stand out at certain points within the scene, helping to provoke a certain mood that matches the setting. There is an extreme, underground, fight club feel that is largely created as a result of the chosen sounds. Loud, rowdy, yelling, cheering crowds of men is a constant noise that fills the scene. Spitting, punching, heavy breathing, and the boxing bell are some of the main diegetic sounds that are stressed within the scene. It is when these noises are removed, that parts of the scene become more emphasized. An upbeat, rock tune is played as non-diegetic music and is constantly added and taken away throughout the scene. This choice of music contributes to the chaotic feeling of the setting, but also serves as a tool to change which character’s perspective the audience is paying attention to. When all of these emphasized sounds are played, single lines are more drowned out, suggesting they are not that important. For example, it is difficult to hear what the ref says before they fight; however anyone who has ever watched sports would have a basic idea.
The scene begins with Mickey entering the ring to the non-diegetic, upbeat, rock music accompanied by the ambient, cheering crowd of men in the background. This gives off a very disorderly feeling as the other fighter enters the ring. During the fight, the sound of the bell and the sharp punching thuds stand out among the layers of noises. It is clear that these noises have purposely been highlighted because in reality a punch would not be heard over a loud, cheering crowd. It is also interesting to see that within this scene, a powerful diegetic sound often changes the non-diegetic sounds completely. For example, when Mickey throws the first punch, striking the other fighter in the face and causing him to fall to the ground, the non-diegetic music stops immediately after the thud sound of the hit. The audience knows Mickey is not supposed to win, so the absence of music and distant sounding crowd adds to the tension of the moment. Eventually the slow motion returns to normal speed, however the sound layout is now different than it was before. The crowd is heard but the music is gone, creating a feeling that something important is about to happen. Since the audience knows the music should be there, suspense is created because the overall sound has not completely gone back to the way they initially was.
To enhance the feeling of the space being dirty, as it is a fight club filled with lots of men, beer, sweat, blood, etc. the cacophonous sounds stand out. For example, whenever someone spits, it is clearly heard over everything else just like the sound from the punches. By this point of the scene the sound has changed again. Mickey and the fighter jab back and forth until the fighter hits Mickey with a punch that is louder than the rest, again altering the non-diegetic sounds by triggering the rock music to disappear from the scene. Once again, these sound decisions change the way this scene is viewed. As the layers of noise were building up, so did the chaos of the scene. These sounds built up until the climax was not the combination of all the noises but rather the surprise of the rock music suddenly stopping again and the bell becoming the single noise that is heard. In a way the bell is sort of narrating that Mickey has had too much to handle. This would make sense because at this point, the scene takes another turn as the sounds once again change our perception of the situation. The sounds make it seem as though we are now inside Mickey’s head. This part of the scene is made up of fast cuts showing the fight and sharp quick noises that accompany each shot. The sounds are robotic noises that complement the idea that the fight is heating up. This change in sounds keeps the fight interesting by portraying it in a different way. The collaboration of these sharp, distorted noises and quick cuts of hits and punches cause the viewer to see the fight the way Mickey sees it. The change in sound style shifts the character’s perspective that the audience is thinking about. Since the crowd can’t be heard, you feel inside Mickey’s head, as he is not focusing on the people around him but rather the fast moving task at hand.
Again the bell serves as another sound transition point, causing the sounds to go back to the way they were before these fast-action, robotic sounds. Compared to the quick, robotic sounds, the noises now seem a lot less intense and drawn out. The bell brings back the non-diegetic rock music and we can once again hear the diegetic ambient crowd. It no longer feels as though we are inside of a character’s head. As the fight gets more frenzied, the sound of the crowd fades out until the rock music is the only thing that can be heard. People’s lips are moving, water is being poured on Mickey to wash off the blood, and Mickey even spits, yet these sounds are muted. This is due to the important line one of the characters needs to say, which needs to stand out from everything that has been going on in this scene. As the character says these important lines to Mickey, some words become echoed. The echoed words come in and out and sound distant, suggesting Mickey is not fully listening to the important instructions about botching the fight. Eventually the rock music becomes louder which draws our attention back to the actual physical fight. The sounds of the punches are echoed and nothing else (not even the crowd) can be heard.
Surprise is created when; again, the rock music stops abruptly without the prompting of a diegetic noise. The scene is filled with the fast cutting style of camera shots that was used earlier, but the sounds are more brutal than the first time’s robotic sounds. This time, vile breaking and cracking sounds accompany the fast cuts, making the punches appear to be at their most painful yet. Finally, one of the punching sounds is contrasted against the fast cuts by being long and drawn out. An echo holds this sound as the scene turns to slow motion, following Mickey flying through the air as a result of the powerful hit. Once again, the contrast of fast sounds to a slow sound provides suspense. This is because the audience now has to be patient immediately after being excited from the fast action fight. There is anticipation of the painful sound that will be heard when Mickey hits the floor. Since the shot does not show how far off the ground he is, Mickey could hit the floor with a loud ‘boom’ at any moment. Again, we are surprised when the sound of Mickey hitting the floor is the exact opposite of the sound expected. This keeps the scene exciting and interesting. The sound of Mickey hitting the floor is a soft splash as the image changes to an abstract shot of Mickey falling under water. The sounds that play as he is under water are completely opposite to the main sounds that have played throughout the scene so far. Under water, the sounds are calm, deserted, bubbly, echoes.
This part of the scene is very interesting because quick cuts back and forth between Mickey under water and the fight are shown and are strongly contrasted through the different noises they consist of. It creates an interesting comparison between inside Mickey’s mindset and from an onlooker’s point of view. The calm, underwater echo is so different from the loud, obnoxious crowd and punching sounds.
Guy Ritchie uses sound to manipulate the point of view in which the viewer sees the scene and the perspective they are focused on. Although they don’t see exactly through Mickey’s eyes (because they are still able to see him) the sound allows the viewer to understand what he is seeing and feeling. Ritchie uses sound to let the audience sympathize with perspectives, understand moods, see the scene in many different ways, and notice things in a scene that one wouldn’t normally notice. In this scene, sound emphasizes things through its relation to other sounds.
The final punch of the scene begins with the echoing sound of Mickey’s wind up and hit, but is intensified through the cut off of the remainder of the echo. It is cut off by a silence for the line, “Now we are fucked.” This has to be emphasized because the audience needs to be aware of how much trouble there is going to be now that Mickey knocked out his opponent and won the fight.
The sounds in this scene have all been carefully thought out and placed with an understanding of their relation to both the visual aspect as well as the other sounds of the scene. They helped make this scene extremely entertaining and powerful.
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