Quiet on the set: The quietest modern movies

Yes, “The Artist” is a silent(ish) film, but that’s an artistic choice. The movie is about two silent film stars at the dawn of talkies, and so it is mainly shot in the style of old silent movies, with only a few fleeting moments of sound. Notably, and polarizingly, “The Artist” won Best Picture at the Oscars. It is a good film, and we don’t think you should hold a questionable Oscar win against it.

Well, “Quiet” is right in the title. There are now three silence-filled horror films in the “A Quiet Place” series. The first was a surprise hit, and quite acclaimed as well, with much tension being derived from the silence. “A Quiet Place” takes place in a world that has been effectively taken over by monstrous aliens who hunt people almost entirely through their tremendous sense of hearing. So, you know, silence is golden.

After the success of his talking-heavy ensemble film “Margin Call,” J.C. Chandor flipped the script. “All is Lost” stars Robert Redford. That’s it. He’s the only actor in the film, and his character doesn’t have a name. “All is Lost” features the man dealing with tumult on the sea as he tries to survive.

When Jonathan Glazer first envisioned his sci-fi horror film, it was going to be a big, special-effects-laden thing. Then, it got pared back, and pared back, until it was atmospheric and filled with unease. Much of the cast are non-professional actors, and much of the film was shot with hidden cameras. Scarlett Johansson, who has been in some loud movies to be sure, plays an alien who seduces men in Scotland to harvest them for food. She spends most of the film being quiet, unnerving, and compelling.

There’s a decent amount of music in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” However, Stanley Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi film is still quite quiet. The music is rarely booming, and the dialog is limited. Minutes will go by without a word being spoken. Also, just think of the coda to the film, how eerily silent it gets at times. Kubrick does so much with visuals and sound in “2001,” but also with the lack of sound.

If we told you there is a movie wherein Casey Affleck plays a ghost who is literally a sheet ghost, you likely wouldn’t think, “I bet it’s a searing, unsparing look at grief.” However, that’s what it is! Affleck is a man who has died, but his ghost remains in the host he had shared with his wife, played by Rooney Mara. Since he’s always alone, and she’s mostly alone, there is little talking going on.

Remember when people were into “Drive?” That movie had a moment, then a backlash, then sort of got forgotten. People aren’t wearing that scorpion jacket anymore. All that said, “Drive” was atmospheric, and it did make good use of quiet stretches. Ryan Gosling’s driver is notably taciturn, which helps him as a character, and helps “Drive” make this list.

David Lynch’s debut feature was made for all of $100,000. Even in 1977, that was not a lot for a film. Lynch had to get creative, and of course he just likes to do weird stuff anyway. “Eraserhead” is bizarre, sometimes incoherent, but definitely memorable. Oh, and quite quiet. It’s eerie, yes, but also probably cheaper for a filmmaker on a budget.

Like Robert Redford in “All is Lost,” Tom Hanks’ character in “Cast Away” is lost by himself fighting to survive. There are differences, though. One, Hanks’ character has a name, and a backstory. Plus, Robert Zemeckis was making a blockbuster movie for a mass audience. It couldn’t be TOO quiet, even if Chuck Noland is lost alone on an island for years. Thus, he talks to himself, and also famously to a volleyball he names Wilson.

After he was blacklisted in Hollywood, director Jules Dassin went to France and made a seminal crime film. “Rififi” is built around a burglary at a jewelry store. Notably, the entire crime plays out in near silence. Dassin didn’t even use music during the roughly 30 minutes dedicated to the burglary. Now that’s quiet (and incredible) filmmaking!

Some of the Coen Brothers’ movies are packed to the brim with dialogue. They love to turn a phrase. However, “No Country for Old Men” is based on a Cormac McCarthy novel. His work is more sparing in terms of dialogue. The Coens carried that over to “No Country for Old Men,” an excellent crime movie. It was a big hit, but also won Best Picture at the Academy Award. Unlike with “The Artist,” this choice was not as polarizing.

Art Carney won Best Actor for “Harry and Tonto,” which was remarkable because he beat Albert Finney, Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson, and Al Pacino for that award. Paul Mazursky’s road movie features Carney as Harry, an elderly widower who is evicted and thus heads out with his cat Tonto. While he does come across people on his journey, there is plenty of quiet in the mix as well.

80,000 years ago, there wasn’t as much chatting as today. “Quest for Fire” features a few different tribes that are at different levels of evolutionary progress. Some are able to talk in rudimentary language, while others are still in the “grunting and gesturing” phase. Regardless, they are all on a quest to control fire, which is a new concept for all these tribes.

Aron Ralston was bold, overly so, when he went hiking in an isolated canyon without letting anybody know where he was. James Franco plays Ralston, a real person, who famously became trapped when a boulder fell on his arm and pinned him. While there’s plenty of quiet stretches in “127 Hours,” one scene certainly is not silent. If you don’t know how Ralston got out of his predicament, well, it’s not for the squeamish.

On the flip side of “Quest for Fire,” “Wall-E” is set in the distant future. Humans have abandoned Earth, leaving it uninhabitable. Wall-E is a trash-cleaning robot left to wander the Earth alone cleaning up. Eventually, he meets Eve, another robot, and they fall in love. They also don’t really talk. You do get to enjoy some “Hello Dolly,” though.