Berberian Sound Studio

The film is split into five reels which mirror the reels of the film within the film.

Guazzo Sound Studio, Italy, 1974: Upon entering the forbidding corridors of

this creepy Italian post‐production sound studio, the nondescript, British sound

engineer, Gilderoy thinks he's hearing things. Having travelled all the way from

his hometown of Dorking in the UK, Gilderoy is under the impression that he's

been hired to supervise a basic sound mix on a feature film. It' quite apparent

that this is a highly unusual job for Gilderoy, who normally creates sound for

harmless local documentaries and children' programmes.

The shrill screams that haunt the lonely studio corridors give some clue as to

what kind of film Gilderoy will be working on. The film' bellicose producer,

Francesco briefs Gilderoy on what has to be done and shows him a shocking

scene from the film in question. Gilderoy is too shy and awkward to voice any

complaint about the fact that he's been misled into working on a sordid piece

of horror. The extreme on‐screen violence of the film Gilderoy has to work

on is never seen. Only through dialogue, effects, atmosphere and music does

one get an impression of what Gilderoy is witnessing. Even in his guest

apartment, Gilderoy sifts through various tapes of screaming in order to be

prepared for a day at the studio.

In the absence of Santini, the film's director, Gilderoy gets acquainted with the

various oddball characters; among them, Sylvia ‐ the forlorn actress doing

overdubs for the Laura character and who puts up with Francesco' bullying,

Fabio -the lazy but likeable son of a famous director who spends most of his

time sunbathing on the roof, Giulietta -the obstinate secretary, and the two

dour engineers, Massimo and Massimo who spend all day twiddling knobs and

fixing daunting analogue machinery. The only escape Gilderoy has from this

world is his guest apartment and his mother' letters from Dorking. The letters

make a loving account of chiffchaff birds rearing their young in a nest by

Gilderoy' garden shed where he keeps all his sound machinery. The garden

shed is known as Berberian Sound Studio.

All the foley, overdub and music‐mix work required of Gilderoy poses no

problems, yet the nature of the subject matter is a deep shock to the system.

Late at night, Gilderoy listens to audition tapes of screams and gradually, the

guest apartment in which he stays comes alive with the horror. Piece by piece,

the narrative of Santini' horror film that Gilderoy has to soundtrack, builds up

and comes together through its sound. Santini's film is set in an Equestrian

Academy for young women and is situated above a tunnel where witches were

tortured and buried hundreds of years before. Two students, Laura and

Monica (overdubbed by Sylvia and Carla respectively) discover a book that

chronicled witch trials and also a tunnel beneath the academy that unleashes

its terrible, sadistic secrets, which are shown in lurid and gratuitous detail.

Once their spirits are conjured, the witches rise and wreak their terrible

revenge. Two students, Monica and Edda are murdered by the witches.

The barbarism and torture Gilderoy is compelled to both watch and be

complicit in week after week cause a breakdown. Santini rarely enters the

studio, and when he feels like popping in to actually 'direct', the confoundingly

evasive 'auteur' usually ends up merely making flamboyant toasts and talking

in riddles.

In the hope of receiving reimbursement for his travel to Italy, Gilderoy allows

himself to be led into a bureaucratic cul‐de‐sac by Francesco and Giulietta.

Gilderoy' infuriating politeness mean that he will most likely never see the

money he spent on air travel.

Every night, Gilderoy becomes increasingly paranoid as the distinction

between recorded and real sounds blurs. Taps on windows seem to emanate

from somewhere other than the speakers of the tape machine. In the studio, a

sinister opera singer is hired to emulate the sounds of a woman being

possessed. Similarly, a Belgian sound poet is paid a handsome sum to do goblin

‘oices'

Gilderoy begins to feel that something or someone is observing his every move

and that maybe the horror film he' working on is a pretence for something

else. The ghostly sonic apparitions that Gilderoy has created for the horror film

soon turn against him. All the while, Gilderoy finds the cinema screen to be a

dark seduction and often its blank canvas seems to invite him in.

One night, Gilderoy listens to an actress' prayer on his tape machine. Both the

prayers for mercy and the pagan chants for revenge that the actresses do

overdubs for create a bracing clash between a very traditional Italian

Catholicism that permeates throughout the studio and also a pagan fury that is

in danger of possessing Gilderoy.

As the foley tasks Gilderoy has to do become increasingly disturbing, he

reaches breaking point. When asked to simulate the sound of a red hot poker

entering an accused witch's rectum, Gilderoy decides to call it a day. Francesco

won't allow Gilderoy to leave and reminds him that he's under contract to stay

until the project is completed.

Every night, Gilderoy becomes increasingly agitated as he hears sounds in his

guest apartment. Footsteps edge towards his door and someone tries to open

it. Brandishing a kitchen knife, Gilderoy summons the courage to open the

door, which magically leads straight into the studio where Gilderoy can see

himself fast asleep on the cinema screen. As Gilderoy unwittingly moves from

real life onto the ghostly surface of the cinema screen, he is unsure as to

whether he is dreaming or that he's in a film within a film. At this point, all

events whether real or onscreen have been pulled into a black hole and come

out the other end in Dorking as we see a local documentary that Gilderoy has

been working on. The documentary shows St. Martin's Church in Dorking and

the cacophony of church bells leads into something increasingly sinister as we

find another letter from Gilderoy's mother. She recounts the slaughter of the

beloved chiffchaffs, most likely at the beaks and claws of magpies.

A power cut at Guazzo Studios throws everything into silence and darkness.

Sylvia enters the auditorium and finds Gilderoy making forest floor footsteps

by candlelight. Sylvia rebukes Gilderoy for not demanding reimbursement for

his air ticket to Italy.

A final attempt to receive air ticket reimbursement leads Gilderoy to realise

that there was no record of a flight and that he never left Dorking. Either this is

another bureaucratic stunt or something far more inexplicable is occurring.

Whilst visiting the toilet, Gilderoy comes across Santini who intimidates him

with his flamboyant proverbs and implications that he knows some of his

deepest secrets. Even the voices on Gilderoy's tape machine threaten to turn

against him as they directly address him and attempt to seduce him into the

screen.

Sylvia comes into the studio late one night to have her screams recorded. She

seems upset and doesn't have any specific scene that needs recording. Sylvia

just needs to scream for the sake of it. After an intense recording session,

Sylvia drunkenly opens her heart to Gilderoy about how Santini harassed her.

The next morning, Francesco, Santini and Gilderoy enter the mixing room only

to find that Sylvia sabotaged the tapes. She leaves a specially‐recorded tape for

them proclaiming her vengeful act of erasing all her overdubs. Francesco and

Santini have to set about finding a new actress to do overdubs for the Laura

character.

The dream‐like maze that Gilderoy is lost in becomes ever more elaborate as

the distinction between real life, film and dream unfurls. One older actress

doing overdubs ends up in Gilderoy' apartment and tries to kill him. This

connects with the narrative of the film within the film, as the only way to break

the witches'spell and murderous rampage is to sacrifice a man.

Both time and space shift, as Gilderoy finds himself as one of the characters in

the horror film. We have gone back in time to when Gilderoy first saw the

shocking footage from the horror film, and now we understand his shock.

That evening, Gilderoy sifts through various screams that Francesco recorded

of his actress, Carla. This is exactly the same scene as after his studio

introduction, only it is extended heavily, which leads us to believe a number of

different interpretations of the film' timeframe. When the screaming on the

tape ends, the tape continues as it becomes apparent that Francesco forgot to

turn it off. Gilderoy listens as Francesco starts harassing Carla, both unaware

that they'e still being recorded. As Francesco savagely beats Carla to death,

Gilderoy feels morally obliged to turn the tape off, but he can' resist hearing

every cry of Carla'. Gilderoy even rewinds the tape and plays her suffering

once more.

The next morning, Gilderoy is shocked to find Carla alive and well. It turns out

that she and Francesco played an elaborate and sick practical joke on him.

Francesco brings in Sara, a new actress, to do overdubs for the Laura character.

Sara practices her lines in front of Gilderoy. Her lines turn out to be the exact

wording of Gilderoy' mother' letter about the slaughter of the chiffchaffs.

When Sara does the overdub for the Laura character, Francesco berates her for

not being convincing enough. Francesco suggests to Gilderoy that he subject

Sara to some painful frequencies. Despite his hesitation, Gilderoy sends some

ear‐shredding frequencies through into Sara' headphones. Sara storms out

and Francesco pretends that he was only joking. With Sara gone, Francesco is

in need of another Laura.

Gilderoy is left in the mixing room contemplating his active role in the various

wrongdoings. Another power cut forces Gilderoy to light some candles. He

positions four candles in a ritualistic position around the mixing desk. The

tapes in the mixing room start playing all the sound from the film in unison

despite the fact there is no power.

As if sleepwalking, Gilderoy walks towards the intense white light of the

cinema screen. The surface of the screen opens to reveal a portal for Gilderoy

to forever disappear into.