The presence of sound in cinema shares and assumes entirely the narrative power typically associated with visual imagery. A sound-based cinematic aesthetic not only shapes the viewer’s perception but also enhances the emotional and conceptual depth of the narrative. The delicate aesthetic balance of sound design plays a crucial role in shaping storytelling, as cinema draws upon both visual and auditory elements in harmony, often referencing real-life experiences. This study offers an original analysis of the aesthetic use of sound in cinema through the lens of Bertolt Brecht’s theory of alienation, focusing specifically on film Memoria (2021), directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Memoria becomes the subject of this inquiry due to its unique sound design, which leads the audience and its protagonist on a journey through abstract concepts such as identity, space, and memory, guided by an undefined sound. Brecht’s alienation effect, originally developed for the theatre, lends itself to reinterpretation within multilayered narrative forms like cinema, where visual design and sound aesthetics can together foster critical distance. Brecht’s alienation theory promotes a theatrical aesthetic in which the audience remains detached from the dramatic flow, maintaining a reflective and critical stance toward the narrative an approach that also translates meaningfully to the cinematic medium. Weerasethakul’s Memoria, with its unconventional use of sound, constructs a cinematic atmosphere that not only tells a story but also challenges the perception of time, memory, and space anchoring these themes deeply in a quasi-realist framework. Simultaneously, this study investigates how Brecht’s alienation theory can provoke critical engagement with fictional worlds through sound, by exploring the phenomenon of estrangement using Michel Chion’s key concepts: acousmêtre, anempathetic sound, sound bridge, and vococentrism. These theoretical tools enable a deeper reflection on how sound in cinema may disrupt narrative realism and generate estrangement in the audience. Thus, while analysing the film's distinct sonic narrative, this study assumes that these concepts will also illuminate and enrich the broader discussion.
Eda Arısoy (Thu,) studied this question.