Music in Movies: A Fraternal Affair

“Music is the soundtrack to the crappy movie that is my life.”

-Chris Rock

If your life was a movie, what songs would you use for the soundtrack? Would you stick to a more classical Hollywood style where character dialogue is the foreground, or would you go for a more poetic approach, using the musical lyric to drive your (arguably) captivating narrative? For the music lover, this question can be extremely difficult to answer and narrow down a proper list of fifteen or so songs. That being said, this question gives light to the weight that music has in film. Soundtracks are inevitably essential to most movies and I argue often act not as a sibling, but as a twin, reflecting an identical image of a screenplay through the musical form.

As a part of our attempt to be more cultured last summer, my older brother and I embarked on a quest to watch all twenty-three James Bond movies in order from 1962’s Dr. No to 2012’s Skyfall. Talk about sibling “bonding.” Puns aside, we found that the Bond theme songs, as well as other action movies such as the Bourne trilogy, often have a reoccurring motif in its movie soundtrack that reflects and enhances the “feel” or the mood of the film. However, these examples clearly aren’t the only films that have such an ample musical impression. In any genre, if observed, one can often find a direct correlation between a film’s soundtrack to its particular theme/message. Although this correlation can be ambiguous, the role that music plays in movies is nothing short of substantial.

But what about the movies that don’t have a soundtrack-driven/backed storyline? With documentaries and movies that scarcely use pieces of music, the essence of the music being used is heightened. These songs are used to enhance our watching experience and are thus imprinted into our minds, triggering a specific response to the pictures expressed on screen. I will never forget the graphic images that accompany Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” in Michael Moore’s documentary Bowling For Columbine that finishes with the lasting line “…oh yeah” while footage of the second plane hitting the twin towers in New York City rolls like a  eerie nightmare (link to scene at bottom of post). Likewise I will never forget the haunting climax in the 2010 French drama Of Gods and Men where Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite booms from a radio over the Trappist monk’s symbolic supper, serving as the only track for the film’s soundtrack (link to scene at bottom of post). Both these scenes are memorable because of the essence of the music; the irony and the melancholy of the relationship between the songs used and the footage on the screen promotes a genuine and extraordinary emotional reaction.

Then of course are the movies that are soundtrack-driven. Take the 2011 silent film The Artist, whose Ludovic Bource soundtrack, not the brilliant acting of Jean Dujardin, I think should be credited as the most substantial reason for its success and Best Picture Academy Award (see example in link at bottom of post). One of my favorite movies and genres, The Artist, and most classic silent films are treasured because of their great acting, but I argue that when you take out the soundtrack, you lose 75% of the emotion. Ultimately, you lose the film itself.

Now I don’t want to take away credit from those interpreting the screenplays, but I will say the really good actors are those that don’t need a soundtrack. One of my personal favorite actors of all-time, Daniel Day Lewis, is one of them. What I find are some of his best acted scenes, the “poor little rabbit” scene from Gangs of New York, the “Daniel vs Eli” scene from There Will Be Blood and the “immense power” scene from Lincoln, all are portrayed without music (links at bottom of post). It’s acting in its purest form. It’s beautiful. It’s poetry. Of Gods and Men, a film I referenced earlier in regards to its use of the Swan Lake Suite, doesn’t have music in the rest of its 122 minute length, and it’s an absolutely astounding film (and one of my favorites), winning the Grand Prix at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.

Moreover, you don’t always need a great soundtrack to make a great film, but I think it certainly helps. A look at the list of Best Picture winners is a look at most of the greatest movie themes/soundtracks in history. So what happens when Speilburg is without Williams? Jackson without Shore? Nolan without Zimmer? Abrahms without Giacchino? Lord knows what would've occurred if they didn't collaborate.

But I’m sure glad they did.

Links:
BFC: Wonderful World: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imOU9SK_q0I

OGAM: Swan Lake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrYLJzA1eNs

The Artist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vipC25SWI6U

Daniel Day Lewis:
Poor Little Rabbit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrkw1UgX3q0
Daniel vs Eli: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UejQlR-P9E

Immense Power: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zym58tsKmbI

My Top Ten Favorite Movie Soundtracks:

1. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King – Howard Shore

2. Forrest Gump – Various Artists

3. O Brother Where Art Thou – Various Artists

4. Once – Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová

5.  I’m Not There – Various Artists

6. Into the Wild – Eddie Vedder

7. The Artist – Ludovic Bource

8. Hugo – Howard Shore 

9. Pulp Fiction – Various Artists

10. Wonder Boys – Various Artists

Honorable Mention:
Mean Streets - Various Artists, The Graduate - Various Artists, The Departed - Various Artists

My Top Ten Favorite Original Movie Themes/Songs:

1. Raiders March (Raiders of the Lost Ark)– John Williams

2. Everything else by John Williams. Seriously. Everything.

3. Falling Slowly (Once) – Glen Hansard

4. The entirety of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit soundtracks –Howard Shore

5. Fare Thee Well (Inside Llewyn Davis) –Marcus Mumford & Oscar Isaac

6. Live and Let Die (Live and Let Die) – Paul McCartney

7. Time (Inception) – Hans Zimmer

8. The Magnificent Seven (The Magnificent Seven) - Elmer Bernstein

9. Things Have Changed (Wonder Boys) – Bob Dylan

10. Society (Into the Wild) – Eddie Vedder

Honorable Mention:
Streets of Philadelphia (Streets of Philadelphia) - Bruce Springsteen, Lose Yourself (8 Mile) - Eminem, Goldfinger (Goldfinger) - Shirley Bassey, As Time Goes By (Casablanca) - Dooley Wilson