Savage sounds of silence

For a film about brutality and machismo, composer Arli Liberman chose to use silence to let the movie speak. Alex Behan reports.

For all its brutal intensity, Savage is a quiet film. Much is said without words, silence communicates volumes, and the score by Israeli-born New Zealander Arli Liberman is an understated accompaniment that heightens tension and provides much-needed emotional release.

Liberman says from the very beginning, writer/ director Sam Kelly knew what he didn’t want.

‘‘He didn’t want to make it easy for the audience. He didn’t want orchestral symphonies. He didn’t want it to sound like Hollywood. He wanted something bold, different and unique.’’

Movies about our gang culture make us uncomfortable. And so they should.

Savage is challenging to watch and opens up difficult conversations.

Inspired by stories from boys’ homes in the 1970s, and the early history of New Zealand gangs, there are difficult truths that frame this story. Liberman says the script immediately resonated with him.

‘‘It’s about terrible decision-making with horrible consequences. The vicious cycle.

‘‘You come into this world and you’re born into a situation you have no control over. We all just want to be loved and we are all absolutely terrified of being left alone.

‘‘I feel this film is illustrating that in a very extreme way. A very loud and harsh way.’’

But the soundtrack that is so integral to the movie is anything but loud.

When you bring to mind a classic gang headquarters movie scene packed with leather and machismo and beer sloshing everywhere, you might expect to hear Southside of Bombay’s

What’s the time, Mr Wolf.

In Savage, you’re more likely to hear anxiety-inducing guitar feedback, heavy on the reverb with spaced out industrial strings and muted voices carousing underneath.

Silence is also used as a powerful instrument.

‘‘There is a part of the film where there is something like 15 minutes of no music at all. It’s challenging for the viewer and it was challenging for me. We had a lot of debates.

‘‘In the beginning, I put music everywhere so that we would know exactly where it didn’t fit. So we would know where we wanted to create space.

‘‘The moments where there is no music are as important as where there is music. You can’t appreciate something until it’s taken away.’’

The space, the silence, the intimate way the film is shot brings you so close to the characters you can vividly hear them breathe. So close you can practically feel them.

Only once in the film do we hear a recognisable song, at one pivotal moment the familiar, powerful voice of Warren Maxwell (Trinity Roots) appears.

‘‘As well as being an amazing singer, Warren is also quite a profound dude.

‘‘Both Sam and I wanted Pendulum, a song he did with his band Little Bushmen, but we decided to re-record it to fit the palette of the film.

‘‘He’s always up to experiment. It was one of the most amazing parts of working on this film, to work with this man.

‘‘Warren’s actually in many other parts of the score but you wouldn’t even recognise him unless you pay very close attention.’’

Savage is not a conventional crime drama narrative. A deep, intimate character study, it hones in on moments that surround action rather than action itself. Sure, there is violence but a lot of time is spent observing quiet moments of contemplation, times when critical choices are faced.

‘‘I wanted to colour the soul of our main guy. When he first gets taken away from his mum, that’s the place where everything starts falling apart. I took my own personal experience.

‘‘I left home very early, at 14. When you’re a kid you don’t really think or analyse all those things but the only thing you notice is the void. The emptiness.’’

Liberman, a highly regarded guitarist, is proud of what is by far his biggest undertaking as a musician.

It’s his first full feature length film as a composer. Utilising unconventional instruments (the percussion is played on junk metal he found at a scrap yard), he has created a restrained work that enhances the story’s dramatic power and beautifully reflects the film’s theme of isolation.

‘‘Very early in the process I had to come to terms that composing music for film is just about story.

‘‘The hardest job is actually to step away and get perspective but I’m really happy with it, it’s pretty haunting.’’

‘‘The moments where there is no music are as important as where there is music. You can’t appreciate something until it’s taken away.’’ Arli Liberman

Composer Arli Liberman was tasked with doing something different for gangs movie Savage, starring John Tui (left, main picture), and Jake Ryan.