# Movies with ONLY music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964 "2011-02-03T00:54:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/1 "2011-02-03T00:54:36Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13423345#post13423345): What is the most mainstream movie that has _only_ music? Koyaaniqatsi is the one that comes to mind for me - that was part of a trilogy, all similarly situated, but I think the fist is most well known. Haven’t seen it for a while, so not sure, but I suppose Fantasia would be up there if there if it qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/2 "2011-02-03T01:12:05Z")
How do you define “Only music”? Does an operetta like “Evita” count? How about filmed version of operas? Does “Silent Movie” count? Do silent movies count? If this is true then I can think of many much more mainstream movies with no spoken dialogue. “Metropolis”, “Nosferatu”, lots of Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy etc. Orders of magnitude more people have seen those than have even heard of “Koyaaniqatsi”. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/3 "2011-02-03T01:14:05Z")
> [@not\_alice](#): > > Haven’t seen it for a while, so not sure, but I suppose Fantasia would be up there if there if it qualifies. Not with Deems Taylor’s spoken introductions. [_The Umbrellas of Cherbourg_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058450/combined) had all sung dialog; would that count? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/4 "2011-02-03T01:15:50Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Does an operetta like “Evita” count? How about filmed version of operas? or [The Umbrellas of Cherbourg](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058450/)? (all the dialog in the movie is sung) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/5 "2011-02-03T01:18:08Z")
_ **Fantasia** _, maybe? I don’t remember if it had any bits of dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![not\_alice](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_alice/32/7283_2.png) [@not\_alice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_alice)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/6 "2011-02-03T01:33:42Z")
No hard and fast rules here… I would rule out silent movies released when the music was played live and the music added later because the technology didn’t yet exist. Silent Movie, OTOH… Operas, sure, are there any mainstream ones? Didn’t see Evita, but sure, if it qualifies. Other than that, have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/7 "2011-02-03T01:37:16Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _ **Fantasia** _, maybe? I don’t remember if it had any bits of dialogue. :smack: I somehow overlooked the mention of Fantasia in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![multimediac17](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@multimediac17](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/multimediac17)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/8 "2011-02-03T02:36:03Z")
If _Evita_ counts then I believe the 2004 film version of _The Phantom Of The Opera_ does too, I don’t think there was any spoken dialogue. Edit: now that I think of it there was. Pretty much the entire audio from the film - including the bits of dialogue - is replicated on the double-disc soundtrack, which is why I misremembered that it was all music. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/9 "2011-02-03T02:56:13Z")
[Baraka](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103767/) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/10 "2011-02-03T03:27:56Z")
[The Magic Flute.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Flute_(1975_film)) **Silent Movie** has one line of dialog, so it’s disqualified. **Modern Times** and **City Lights** were released during the sound era, but have no dialog. Though it’s a silent film, in its original version, **The Last Laugh** tells its story entirely without title cards (one was added after the studio insisted on a different ending). I think that’s in keeping with the spirit of the question. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/11 "2011-02-03T07:59:50Z")
Drawing Restraint 9 comes pretty close. There is a short scene with a tea ceremony that might have a few lines, but pretty much the whole movie is just a really long Bjork video with no breaking of the fourth wall. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/12 "2011-02-03T10:00:05Z")
Probably not seen much outside Australia and New Zealand [One Night the Moon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290794/combined#comment) featuring Paul Kelly, his wife and daughter with songs by Kelly, Kev Carmody and Mairead Hannan, is a kind of 60 minute opera about a girl lost in the desert. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/13 "2011-02-03T10:50:44Z")
Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat has no dialogue other than lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/14 "2011-02-03T11:23:11Z")
_Fantasia_ has dialog - where Mickey Mouse congratulates Stokowski. _Tommy_ (from 1975, directed by Ken Russell, starring Roger Daltrey and Ann-Margaret), has, IIRC, one word of non-sung dialogue: Tommy’s mother calls his name to him. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/15 "2011-02-03T12:11:41Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Probably not seen much outside Australia and New Zealand [One Night the Moon](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290794/combined#comment) featuring Paul Kelly, his wife and daughter with songs by Kelly, Kev Carmody and Mairead Hannan, is a kind of 60 minute opera about a girl lost in the desert. Great movie (and in particular _This Land Is Mine_ is a brilliant piece), but there’s plenty of dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/16 "2011-02-03T13:04:18Z")
I mentioned **Le Dernier Combat** in the other thread, because I think it’s got no music. Regardless of that, it has even less dialogue than **Silent Movie**. A French Science Fiction film that needs no subtitles. If it _has_ music, despite my recollection, then it can still fit in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/17 "2011-02-03T13:14:46Z")
I don’t remember \*the Triplets of Belleville \*having any dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/18 "2011-02-03T14:02:13Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > [Baraka](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103767/) One of my faves. The trilogy [Koyaanisqatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/), [Powaqqatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095895/), and [Naqoyatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0145937/) also are visual montages with music. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/19 "2011-02-03T14:02:48Z")
\*\*The Thief \*\*(1952) a spy picture with with Ray Milland had no dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964/20 "2011-02-03T14:03:00Z")
The 1947 film “Carnegie Hall” has about 15 minutes of dialog in the beginning, 5 minutes at the end and two hours of various classical music performances for the bulk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-only-music/569964.md?page=2)