From the noises of trains in cinemas in 1896 to Renoir’s La Bête humaine (1938)

The author traces, in the history of cinema, from 1896 to 1938, the way in which the train as a “sounding object” is used. During the silent period, how are railway noises made (noise machines, musical instruments)? During the generalization of sound in film, the author sought the meaning of the different ways train sounds. Finally, the author analyses in detail the final sequence of Renoir’s La Bête humaine (1938).