Music in Movies. Notable examples.
I’ve never gone down the path of learning the art of cinematography, or regrettingly, the one of learning to play a musical instrument. But I’m a great consumer of both of these arts, therefore when they merge in a way that touches me, they stay in my memory for a long time.
I’m sure there are entire books and studies about the use of music in cinema, and I’m an academic in neither of them, (or in anything at all!) but what I’ll do here is again my favourite thing: sharing, listening, and writing down what makes something stand out.
This is England — Ludovico Einaudi
Heavy start but who cares: This is England. I’m grateful to the director Shane Meadows for introducing thousands of people to the talent of Ludovico Einaudi. This compatriot of mine is appreciated worldwide. I was lucky to have seen him at the Royal Festival Hall a few years ago.
His composing talent spans from electronic to the most beautiful classical contemporary. A minimalist, able to compress emotions in fewer notes, I’ve always found him brilliant, and his music kept me company since I was 18. Just look at this scene:
If you have seen the movie you don’t need this paragraph, if not, here is the context. The handsome skinhead storyteller is Combo, they are around him as he just got back from jail, they’re greeting him back. They are skinheads, but some of them are also kids, they get together and hang around, their basic need of belonging is kept together by a weak, fun-sized ideal of white supremacy, weakly enforced and left in the background. But this guy Combo is the real deal, he is the violent arm of the National Front party.
In this scene you see Combo boasting about a story he’s got to tell, and as he starts telling it, the people in the room split. Some are entertained, some are terrified: they’re getting the loudest reminder of a very bad choice they’ve made in their lives. The music starts and as the faces of the people reveal where they stand, the music takes over the guy’s story, the story is not the point (just like the pudding). This scene made my heart stop, I believe it serves as a prime example of how music can straight outperform words.
12 Years a Slave — Roll Jordan Roll
Hot topic slavery, one shadow that, evidently, never vanished completely, but without expanding on that I’m bringing up a special scene from a movie I loved: 12 Years a Slave.
The scene starts and ends with a gospel choir, when the character of Solomon Northup, hesitant at first joins in. And whilst joining the choir he joins the desperation and suffering of his peers. To say his situation was unjust would be an euphemism, a free man sold as a slave and stripped of his identity and dignity.
The fact that Blues generated in the plantations is out of debate, and peaking for two minutes inside that reality thanks to such a grim movie is striking.
Another song you might like, rooted in the Bible and in slavery was Go Down Moses. It is about the Jews in Egypt, but the lyrics were relatable to the American slaves for obvious reasons. (“Oppressed so hard they could not stand. Let my people go”).
I feel like sharing a lesser-known piece of music on this theme, a catchy, angry cry for justice which is Prison Song. Performed by actor Carlton Williams, from The “Selma” Album: A Musical Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
London Boulevard — La Fee Verte
London boulevard is a slick crime gangster movie. The reviews are mixed, some say it is a bit too eventful, lacking connecting tissue between the plots. I remember seeing it once, but the final scene never left my head. Some called this movie “neo-noir”, and if you listen to the song used for the entire final scene, you will agree to that. I couldn’t find the English movie ending, but for music purposes, it’s not important.
To me this song by Kasabian always stood out from their discography. It’s a big green trip of absinthe and the band managed to infuse it with a smooth soft rock pace, great vocals and psychedelic atmospheres. They made it fit in that scene like bread and butter by starting and stopping it on key moments, great ending. And it is followed by another Swinging London staple, Heart Full of Soul by the Yardbirds.
Django Unchained — Un Monumento
It’s just not fair to put Ennio Morricone on a list like this, is it? Or Trantino even, Kubrick, Hans Zimmer, you name it. But I like to go for the smaller gems some people might miss.
Let’s focus on this little big scene towards the end of Django Unchained. This is a track Morricone composed 5 decades before this movie came out, but Tarantino fit it on like a glove. The crescendo, the build up sounds like a march, and you can see the Candyland tyrants marching back to the Big House. The door of her shed slams open and she doesn’t dare to look at who could be entering.
Tarantino knows how epic the viewers want this reunion to be, it’s the second time Django surprises Broomhilda, but he still pours abundant cheese on it because we are all suckers for the dramatic. This is what I call a scene. One in which the music shocks your senses and makes it unforgettable.
If that tickled your Morricone appetite, you might like this score from the movie The Mission. It’s not unlikely that more people are required to perform that score, than the actual people shooting the damn movie.
Trainspotting — Born Slippy
Literally one of the best movie endings I know of. Renton watches the ceiling as he realizes his “so called mates” have come to destroy his new attempt on a life in London. As the solution of this puzzle comes to his mind, the heavenly intro of Born Slippy starts. The rave part of the song starts as he gets the money and abandons the flat, choosing life.
American Hustle — Yellow Brick Road
An incredible movie inspired by a real story, thick plot and subplots, funny, dramatic, filled with top notch actors.
Crazy setup for a scene. We have Christian Bale, con artist with the blackmailing wife/ex-wife on one side, we got his girlfriend with an undercover FBI agent from another, and a Mexican from Queens posing as an Arab sheik, expected to invest in transforming Atlantic city in the new Las Vegas. The Mayor of the city to host them, and Robert De Niro as a mafia boss lurking in a hidden room in the back. What could possibly go wrong.
The theme of the movie is of course hustling, and walking on that red carpet for the con artist is like walking down the Yellow Brick Road of The Wizard of Oz, the road to success and happiness.
If you watched this movie you’ll agree to how this scene shines, and how it cracked you up too probably. Excellent use of that song here.
I could go on but let’s keep it web-sized. I surely hope you enjoyed today’s music journey. Do you know a scene that would fit in this article? Share it below!
Originally published at http://talkingabout.music.blog on June 90, 2020.
