Música post-minimalista en escena: un análisis del uso de trance 4 en Closet monster

Abstract

The movie Closet Monster, written and directed by Stephen Dunn and considered one of the top ten Canadian movies of 2015 by the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), is heavily influenced by queer cinema and uses music as a fundamental element to characterize the protagonist, follow the plot, and give a meaning to the film that would not be the same without it. This paper focuses on a scene near the end of the movie (71’32”-75’43”) that uses the post-minimalist music piece, Trance 4 (1995), by American composer Michael Gordon and performed by the band Icebreaker. Based on the short, this paper offers an analysis that aims to highlight the track’s contribution to the composition of the scene and to discuss the mutual influence of musical and visual languages, both located in trends with certain characteristics — namely queer cinema and post-minimalism, respectively. To that end, the analysis shifts between concepts such as musivisual language, synchronization points, and musical post-minimalism. The paper opens with some thoughts about post-minimalist music, queer cinema, and the protagonists of Trance, by way of contextualization, followed by an exploration of the Closet Monster scene, set to the track “Trance 4.” To conclude, the paper emphasizes the role of music in the composition of the scene. With this paper, we seek to contribute to broadening the debate on the use of post-minimalist music in queer cinema.