A look at the use of empathetic music in Icarus (2017)

Throughout the history of film, from the very first crude monotone productions to the state of the art blockbusters we have today, music plays a fundamental role in driving stories and narratives forward. It can take countless different forms in film production, and play a number of different roles; while the vast majority of background audio and score in modern films serves the purpose of enhancing a particular narrative point in some way by adding tension, or dramatising romance etc, use of different music can entirely change the way a scene is absorbed by an audience to aid character development, or display something in a specific light. Creative use of background music has been taken advantage of by many film-makers to great effect, and in Bryan Fogel’s 2017 documentary on sports doping, Icarus, there are certain notable examples.

Icarus documents director Bryan Fogel’s journey into the world of illegal sports doping, starting as an exploration into how to avoid a positive readout, and how dramatically it would increase his performance in one of the most gruelling cycle races on the planet. He is coached through his endeavour by several experts, including the state appointed head to the Russian national anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov. Through the course of the film’s production, Fogel ends up uncovering an enormous, state sanctioned doping program in Russia headed by Rodchenkov, who was willing to blow the whistle on the operation during filming. Ultimately, the film concludes with massive sanctions put in place against Russian athletes competing internationally, and Rodchenkov being places in United States witness protection due to threats against his life from the Russian authorities.

From the film’s outset, Rodchenkov is initially seen as a somewhat disreputable, shady character, only being seen through bad quality video-calls on computer a screen (often making crass comments or seen without a shirt). However, in the film’s first quarter, Rodchenkov flies to the United States to assist Fogel in his efforts to avoid being caught doping, and throughout these scenes, music that varies drastically from what has been heard so far is played alongside Rodchenkov’s dialogue. The first music we hear alongside the character is an upbeat jazz track that starts to play as Rodchenkov interrupts an important meeting with the film’s producers by playing with Fogel’s dog and consequentially throwing everyone off balance. The music continues in the next shot as we see Rodchenkov driving alongside Fogel while he cycles, cheering him on and mentioning “we need girls, we need cheerleaders” while wildly flailing his arms. Use of music in this regard is used to show the character in a playful, maverick light, humanising him and allowing the audience to bond. Use of audio in this way is described as ‘empathetic sound’ by French film theorist and composer Michel Chion. Chion “claims music can directly express its participation in the feeling of the scene, by taking on the scene's rhythm, tone, and phrasing; obviously such music participates in cultural codes for things like sadness, happiness, and movement. In this case we can speak of empathetic music, from the word empathy, the ability to feel the feelings of others.”(Chion, 1994). The idea of ‘cultural codes’ here relate to an aspect of film theory developed by French literary theorist Roland Barthes. Barthes developed a series of five ‘codes’ that could be applied to the narrative of any film, discerning particular narrative structures and symbolism (Barthes, 1974). He theorised that viewers interpret and symbolise certain audiovisual elements in specific ways depending on pre-developed viewpoints of ‘culture’, such as associating trench-coats and fedoras with Italian gangsters in ‘The Godfather’. The same applies to different genres and tempos of music: we could associate slow classical music with sadness in a morose scene, or fast electronic music with action. As an audience, we associate jazz music with themes such as happiness and relaxation, and use of this music allows us to see Rodchenkov in a more positive light, opposed to the almost slovenly way he appeared earlier in the film.

Music is used even more creatively shortly after in the film, again in relation to Rodchenkov’s character. After a brief walk through of his history as a scientist and expert on anti-doping process, we enter a scene documenting his exact methodology of thawing, swapping and packaging Fogel’s drug-positive urine samples with negative samples to be shipped to the lab in Russia and tested. The general visuals of the scene are almost clinical in nature: close up shots of sample bottles and Rodchenkov’s face while he analyses them, explaining his process, at one point quoting “I am mafia, chased by WADA (World Anti Doping Agency)”. In a scene such as this, the musical accompaniment expected would generally compose of a ‘darker’ piece of music, such as slower, stringed classical, emphasizing the shady, illegal nature of what is being undertaken. However, what the audience hears is an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’; this particular music in the scene allows interpretation of Rodchenkov’s actions and motives in an entirely different light. The use of background music from ballet during a sequence such as this changes the theme entirely, making the audience view Rodchenkov, again, not as a shady drug-pusher, but as more of an artist, as a mad scientist, as a maverick. This can also be described as ‘empathetic’ sound according to Chion’s theory in this regard, as it still relies on the audience’s ability to relate particular music to particular emotions. It does so differently to the previous scene, however, as the music provides a counterpoint to the images we see on screen. This kind of audio is known as ‘contrapuntal sound’, and is described by the British Film Institute as “sound that contrasts with the mood or tone of the scene” (BFI). The most notable example of this in modern film is the ‘ear-chopping’ scene in Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, where upbeat pop track “Stuck in the Middle with You” plays while a police officer is dismembered. While the Reservoir Dogs example is a glaringly obvious musical counterpoint, Chion would describe it as ‘anempathetic’as it plays diegetically (physically within the scene), and the music elicits an almost indifferent attitude to the brutality happening alongside it visually in the scene. The music in this scene of Icarus is used far more subtly as background music, and has an effect on audience emotional interpretation without it potentially even being noticed.

Similar can be said for the opposing empathetic ‘parallel sound’ that takes place via score and background music through many other sequences in the film pertaining to Rodchenkov’s worsening situation. Parallel sound is, again described by the BFI, as “audio that matches the mood or tone of the scene” (BFI). In one particular scene, slow piano accompanies the news that lawyers have withdrawn support for his case, bridging quickly into a faster, electronic snare track as Rodchenkov realises the gravity of his situation with “Putin will kill me”. Chion theorised that “a smooth and continuous sound is less "animating" than an uneven or fluttering one. Try accompanying an image first with a prolonged steady note on the violin, and then with the same note played with a tremolo made by rapidly moving the bow. The second sound will cause a more tense and immediate focusing of attention on the image”(Chion, 1994). While the instruments in question here are different, the theory applies. The minor piano track is associated with somber emotion, and shows the negativity of the situation, and the immediate build into the fast, uneven drum track (almost mimicking increased heart rate) drastically elevates viewer tension and emphasizes the panic and gravity of Rodchenkov’s plight, all within the same scene with a static camera staged in a hotel room.

Throughout the Icarus’ course, background music is consistently used throughout most scenes to aid progression of narrative.The film pays special attention to Rodchenkov’s character progression via musical aids, and relies on empathetic musical use to introduce his maverick characteristics and happy-go-lucky attitude.The use of different instrumentals and musical narrative techniques take advantage of the audience’s predeveloped understanding of how music dictates emotion to empathise with and humanise the character on a greater level, and overall, effectively add a far greater level of depth to the film’s character development and narrative