Severance (Music)

The opening of Severance is of 2 half naked foreign girls and a middle aged fat man running through a forest. They are dirty and look scared. The backing music is a calm song with no lyrics, something not to dissimilar to what you could expect to hear at a ballet recital. Although it doesn't fit the mood it works well and creates a weird sense of tension. As the continue running the two girls fall into a pitfall trap. The man looks down and they shout for help in a different language but he keeps running. A few seconds later he is also caught in a trap and is hanging from a tree by his leg. You see from his perspective and you see the lower half of a man in a trench coat approach him with a hunting knife in hand. The man continues and sticks the knife into the mans stomach. As the blood starts trickling down his body and on to his face a really happy song comes on and then it fades away to a tour bus. The contrast of the happy song with the brutal act which has just taken place gives a really weird effect. Is it meant to be quite a violent scene but with the happy tune you also quite want to laugh, it creates confusion of emotions amongst the viewer because they are unsure wether it is appropriate to laugh or not! The use of music is greatly effective here as it creates the confusion and makes the opening memorable.