Pure Performance in a Classic Narrative Film (Mini Analysis of Devil's Rejects Scene)

There were numerous examples of "pure performance" tracks in film we looked at, but I found one on my own to be very different. We looked at the performance of "The Three Amigos" and their comical bar routine. In "Mulholland Drive", the eerie and important Club Silencio introduced us to a Spanish singer and her rendition of a song which is the turning point of that particular film. One performance I noted was in a film I actually didn't enjoy much. It was more the performance of the scene that made the movie memorable. The film is "The Devil's Rejects" directed by Rob Zombie. In this 2005 horror sequel to "House of 1000 Corpses", the family of "Rejects" are wanted and are on the run as fugitives. Once they successfully torture and murder two families and terrorize the town, they have a showdown with the police and "good" characters that are trying to bring them down. The "Rejects" end up surviving, but are bloodied and wounded in the process. As the family comes together and attempts to drive their muscle car out of the town and into freedom, the director Zombie uses something we rarely see in films. He uses pure silence (just like we saw in Panic Room) in relation to all the images. Interestingly enough, we can hear a song. This song is diagetic and only for the audience, but is being played well before the family steps into the car (perhaps it is on the car radio.) The song is "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Although the lyrics are about being free after a breakup, it is fitting since the criminals are on their way to escaping the law, being free, remaining evil and not changing for anyone. The song is the only thing we can hear and is played in its entirety. Nine minutes of silence and no sound relation to pictures except for the epic ballad that we hear being played. The most interesting part is when the Rejects run into a police line, who brutally murder the Rejects via a gun-fest showdown. Although silence remains on the soundtrack and we cannot hear any guns being fired or any sound from the actors. It might not have been a hit in Hollywood, but never the less it is intriguing how Zombie fit the whole song into his movie and made the scene not only significant but relevant to the lyrics we are hearing. Perhaps one of the best (and overlooked) pure performance moments from a pre-recorded song nearly over 30 years elder than the film. The film is worth a look because of this musical moment.