Modes of Listening

August Rush (2007), directed by Kirsten Sheridan, tells the story of an orphaned musical prodigy, Evan Taylor, using his gift to find his parents. While the central message of August Rush is how music connects people, it interestingly reveals several complicated connections between music and images. First, the soundtrack of August Rush incorporates everyday “noises” as musical elements, with images addressing their sources. This challenges the audience to constantly relate timbre to its source images, and also induces satisfaction when the unrevealed source is later revealed. Second, music in August Rush tells the narrative before image does. For instance, the fusion of two musical styles in the “Louis/Lyla” scenes pre-establishes the bonding between the protagonist’s parents, while the image of them cuddling is shown afterwards. Imagery thus functions to provide additional information or clarification. Last but not least, music connects “past” and “present” imagery. The music performance of “August Rhapsody” in the final scene recalls previous events, which juxtaposes with the “present” images and hence implies multiple meanings.

In this article, I first illustrate the aforementioned connections in the opening scene, the “City Symphony” scene and the “Louis/Lyla” scenes etc. Then I provide a detailed analysis of “August’s Rhapsody,” particularly on its relation to other scenes to further demonstrate the connections in macroscopic view. I conclude that imagery in August Rush unusually becomes the supporting element and only with music can it be connected, transcending time and space.

Pierre Bourdieu’s praxis theory and its central trademark – concept of habitus – are important benefits for musical experience understanding. With the help of those, the culture-based research of music can precisely expand the field of interest to social context of music culture participation. Concept of habitus became significant as musical
habitus, also it became a part of critical revision of its main Bourdieu’s theses, finally, it seems to be helpful tool of investigating the modern, digital music experience.