While We're Young: Sound to Portray Theme

Noah Baumbach's While We're Young essentially uses sound to supplement two key themes of the film - the irony of how technology is used between generations, and the 'danger' of youth. Transitions between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds offer insight to the character's experiences and a carefully selected soundtrack celebrates the core ideas of the film.

Diegetic sound is often used to portray the realism in films that relate directly to real life. "The distinction between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds can sometimes be murky" (186) say Corrigan and White, but in relation to While We're Young, several key moments transition between diegetic/non-diegetic sounds. The first time this happens is when Josh and Cordelia (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) meet Jamie and Darby (Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried) at a 'street-beach' - a faux beach on the side of the road. A bass-fuelled hip-hop song plays as a non-diegetic sound outside the world of the film, and then transitions into a diegetic sound as it becomes the music playing at the street-beach. The second notable time the sound transitions is when Cordelia goes to a hip-hop class with Darby. At first the music is diegetic and plays at the dance class, and then transitions into non-diegetic as it accompanies a montage of Josh and Cordelia being influenced by the energetic youth of Jamie and Darby. 

fig. 1: Josh and Cordelia in amazement at baby
using a smartphone.

fig. 2: Josh, Cordelia, Marina and Fletcher
all engrossed with their smartphones.

The irony of the film revolves around this influence that the younger couple has on the older. Josh and Cordelia, a couple that are immersed in the technology of the present (see fig. 2), are inspired by Jamie and Darby - a young married couple who listen only to vinyl ("It's just like my record collection...except mine are cd's" - Josh looking at Jamie's record collection). It is ironic that the older couple are the ones so deeply immersed in technology, and rediscover the power of human connection in the younger couple who avoid technology.


 Soundtrack plays a significant role in accentuating this idea. The film opens with a nursery-esque cover of David Bowie's "Golden Years" by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, accompanied by a shot of a baby. Without lyrics, the relevance of the song is only prevalent to viewers who know the original song - most likely of the older generation, as "Golden Years" was released in Bowie's album "Station to Station" in 1976. The idea of golden years runs throughout the film, as Josh faces a mid-life crisis and must accept his inability to be ultimately successful and memorable forever. The film closes with a shot of a baby using a smartphone, and the couple's shocked reaction (see fig. 1). 

 As a whole, sound features as a linking element to the themes of the film. Music is used to portray the irony of the reversal between couples of what is expected in terms of technology, both physically while the contrast between cd's and records is noted, and metaphorically when the diegesis of the film encapsulates Josh and Cordelia's transitioning attitude towards life through physically transitioning the soundscape from diegetic to non-diegetic and vice versa.  

fig. 3: Jamie and Darby

Works Cited:

Corrigan, Tim and Patricia White. The Film Experience: An Introduction. Boston: St Martins, 2012. Print.

While We're Young. Dir. Noah Baumbach. Scott Rudin Productions, 2014. Film.

Corban Goble, "James Murphy's While We're Young Soundtrack Release Detailed, Features David Bowie Cover." Pitchfork. February 6 2015. Web. Accessed 21/04/16.