Sound Affects: Sado-Masochism and Sensation in Lars von Trier¿s Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark

In the last few years, much has been written on the work of Lars von Trier, though the majority of these texts are built around matters of aesthetic and auteurist interest. What is lacking in these investigations, however, is an articulation of the films¿ sonic properties, sado-masochistic structures, and affective potentialities. Sound Affects seeks a greater understanding of these facets of von Trier¿s films, moving beyond more traditional ocular-centric modes of investigation to focus its analysis on the soundtrack, or mise-en-bande. Constructing its methodology from concepts originating in the writings of French Philosopher Gilles Deleuze ¿ The Movement-Image and The Time-Image, in particular ¿ Sound Affects approaches von Trier¿s films through the prism of a new theoretical model, one that imagines the cinema as composed of two complementary sound-image texts: one sadistic, and the other masochistic. And in the interval between these two unique space-times, in those fleeting moments between feeling and thought, is where we locate the affective potential of the text, an experience that is unique to von Trier¿s films, and is felt most profoundly in the realm of sound.