Jason Reitman's Juno (2007), is such a
quirky and uplifting flick that I have enjoyed many times over the years. As I watched it this time I was
focusing more on the diegetic elements, those being a part of the total world
of the story, and non-diegetic; contributing to the story, but not in the
character's world of consciousness. In the beginning they have the sketched
credits as Juno walks through the town, to me this is diegetic because that is
telling the whole world of the story at the moment, it is just in a different
medium than that of real life people. This, in combination with Barry
Louis-Polisar’s “All I Want is You,” add a level a whimsy to the story before
it even really begins. The use of music as both a diegetic and non-diegetic
element contributed to the quirky feel and the meaningful yet lightheartedness
of this film.
The use of music as a soundtrack is crucial to any
good movie, but in Juno it not only
sets the mood and creates a deeper feeling of emotion, it is also a key diegetic
part in many of the characters lives. Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) and Paulie
Bleeker (Michael Cera) are tied together by not only her pregnancy, but their past
band membership, and their love for music. We don’t actually witness them
playing in the band in the plot, but they talk about reuniting after “this
whole thing is over.” When Juno meets Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa
(Jennifer Gardner) for the first time, she gets a peak at Mark’s old Les Paul
guitar sitting in his man cave, they then continue to bond over the guitar and
their shared appreciation for old music and his days as a rock star. Just as he
shows her his old songs, Vanessa comes up and interrupts them, as her character
is one of the few that doesn’t bond to the others through music. But we can
infer that she might have been a fan from the past by her old Alice in Chains
t-shirt covered in “Custard” and “Cheesecake” yellow as she paints the baby’s
nursery later on. Throughout the story music acts as a topic that leads Mark
and Juno to bond together, almost in a temptation sort of relationship. They
listen to old records by Mott The Hoople, specifically “All the Young Dudes,”
and slow dance, which was clearly inappropriate, but I also see it as Mark just
trying to reconnect to the music that once made him feel young, doing so
through his relationship with Juno. Just as Mark relates to Juno through music,
it is also his affinity for music that drives him and Vanessa, and ultimately
Juno apart. He writes commercial jingles for a living, but his true desire is
becoming that rock star he once was in his younger days, and he can’t seem to
let that life go, leading to his realization that he is not ready to be a
father or stay married. Even though
music ultimately was the issue between Mark and Vanessa, it was also a very
sweet way that Paulie and Juno related to each other, that other characters
didn’t seem to share. We never saw Juno and Leah, her best friend, talk about
music or bond through it, she seemed to only do that with the main male
antagonist, Mark, and protagonist, Paulie. At the end of the movie Juno and
Paulie sit together and they begin to sing The Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But
You,” while both harmonizing on their respective acoustic guitars. This is the
perfect ending in the sense that music has been such a strong theme throughout
the movie; driving people apart and pulling others back together.
Not only did director Jason Reitman and screenwriter
Diablo Cody employ music well throughout the script and story, the soundtrack
reflects the mood and the characters perfectly. The use of music as a
non-diegetic element adds another layer, almost another character to the story.
While watching, I noticed many songs were sung by female vocalists and many
were about relationships and couples, reinforcing Juno’s point of view through
the soundtrack. The music chosen also reflected what the actual characters
would listen to, it wasn’t a dramatic Hollywood score that would build
suspense, it kept the mood light and earnest, but when there was a more serious
moment, the absence of this lightness darkened the tone. I also noticed that
most of the music had strong acoustic guitar instrumentals, which went along
well with the strong presence of guitars in the characters lives. While reading
up on the soundtrack details, I discovered that Ellen Page (Juno) helped choose
many of the songs, and had the idea for Juno to be a fan of Kimya Dawson of The
Moldy Peaches. Kimya sang many of the songs, and the last song at the end,
“Anyone Else But You,” was by her band. I thought it was very interesting that
they choose the music for the soundtrack based on what the character would
listen to, many movies use it as a separate piece, but in Juno it really served to reveal another side of the main
protagonist. Even though the soundtrack is a non-diegetic element, it was a
strong and important part of the character’s world and greatly added to the
story.
If you would like to listen to a couple of the songs I talked about, here are the links:
Barry Louis-Polisar’s “All I Want is You" with opening credits
Matt the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes."
Kimya Dawson and The Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else but You"
Lastly, Michael Cera and Ellen Page covering "Anyone Else but You"
Works Referenced:
"Juno." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/>.
Barsam, Richard Meran., and Dave Monahan. "Chapter 4: Elements of Narrative." Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2010. 2-62. Print.
Juno. Dir. Jason Reitman. Prod. Lianne Halfon and John Malkovich. By Diablo Cody. Perf. Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2007. DVD.
