When that familiar beat plays, it echoes in one’s mind and holds the power to make them reminisce. Film and soundtrack, scene and song, become interchangeable. We take a look at some the most iconic soundtracks and composers in film history.
The soundtrack of a film rides along and viscerally projects the plot twists and emotional turmoil of the narrative. Few films choose to have no musical score. Needless to say, this does not brand the film unmotivated. No Country For Old Men, an overwhelmingly striking film, plays on the lack of sound to generate a certain mood. Equally, the appropriate assembly of sound and story must be attributed to a film’s artistry.
Apocalypse Now
Most obviously, a film’s soundtrack is used to transport the audience to the world of the narrative – we must be manipulated and then immersed into the characters’ universe. “The End” used in the opening sequence of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is a most eloquent example. As The Doors’ Jim Morrison sings – “This is the end, my only friend, the end” – we recognise the foredoom of the film before it has even begun. The helicopter propeller’s under crank leads us into a jungle laden with agent orange. We are in the heart of the Vietnam War.
Naturally, this seven minute montage remains an epic soundtrack masterpiece.
The Graduate
The music buried beneath the visuals emotionally persuades the audience as to what and how they should feel. Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound Of Silence” exhumes it’s power of immediately connecting the audience to Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate. As he rides the moving walkway at the film’s beginning, we feel his sense of loneliness and uncertainty (and repeatedly feel this as the song is played in fragments through the course of the film).
We listen to the melancholic lyrics of traditional ballad “Scarborough Fair”, again adapted by Simon and Garfunkel, as the protagonist’s love affair disintegrates.
Remember me to the one who lives there,
For once she was a true love of mine.
These are feelings Benjamin cannot, and does not share with anyone else. As the tune and lyrics of the score mirror the action of the film, the mood is felt as it should be.
Jason Lipshutz explains in his Billboard Times article:
Stand By Me
Stand By Me is a unique example of how a single track inspired the very title of a film, which eventually became a poignant coming-of-age classic. Derived from Steven E. King’s “Stand by Me”, recorded in 1960, its rhythm and blues became the tune that epitomised this boyhood journey. “Stand by Me” became so influential that the common chord progression used in it is now called the 50s progression. Naturally, the song has been re-recorded into different versions over 400 times.
Moreover, musical director Jack Nitzsche’s composition became legendary for all his song choices. The 1986 film, set in the 50’s, is appropriately filled with rock & roll classics of the time – Shirley and Lee’s “Let the Good Times Roll” and The Silhouettes’ “Get a Job” are sounds that complete the vibrancy of the adventures of these young boys.
Pulp Fiction
And it really is all about the experience. One goes to the movies to witness drama that takes one away from the mundanity of everyday life – and a great movie will indeed, take the audience on that rollercoaster ride. Quentin Tarantino inundates Pulp Fiction with an eccentric soundtrack that remains the icing on top of a masterpiece. There is a timeless nature that lies within the music that flows through the film – surf classics become commonplace and generate a style that Tarantino can only describe as “rock & roll spaghetti western music”. “Misirlou” by Dick Dale and Del Tones has come to be the Pulp Fiction anthem. The song radiates such vivaciousness that one can only picture Pumpkin and Honey Bunny’s intense preparations to rob the diner.
But the most memorable Pulp Fiction clip remains Vincent Vega and Marcellus Wallus’s wife doing the twist at Jack Rabbit Slim’s.
Marcellus Wallus’s Wife: “I do believe Marcellus Wallace, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out and do whatever I wanted. Now I wanna dance, I wanna win. I want that trophy, so dance good”
In a homage to Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta and Uma Thurman’s most bizarre dancing scene to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” succeeds in translating into an atmosphere of coolness and edginess that embodies the movie.
The Rolling Stone’s list of The 25 Greatest Soundtracks reads:
After watching Pulp Fiction, the roller coast ride is complete and the audience has indeed experienced something like none other before.
Trainspotting
The Trainspotting soundtrack generated a huge fanbase for the 1996 British black comedy drama which eventually developed a cult following. The story of a group of heroin addicts in 1980’s impoverished Edinburgh is accompanied by British pop and techno tracks of the time. The film’s exploration of urban poverty is suited by the sounds of veteran punk legend Iggy Pop – “Lust for Life” and “Nightclubbing” – which underscore Mark Renton’s drug fuelled adventures. This is balanced by singles such as Loud Reed’s “Perfect Day”, a romantic, melancholy tune that manifests the illusory sequence leading to Mark’s overdose. Additionally, the trance-like techno beats of Underworld’s “Dark and Long (Dark Train)” perfectly conduct the desperation of Mark’s agonising withdrawals, followed by Ice MC’s “Thinking About the Way” during his prospective road to recovery.
AllMusic’s review of the soundtrack by Stephen Thomas Erlewine maintains:
“But the finest new song is Pulp’s “Mile End,” with its jaunty, neo-dancehall melody and rhythms and Jarvis Cocker’s evocative, haunting lyrics. That song, more than anything else on the soundtrack, captures the feeling of the film.”
Almost every song was especially recorded for the soundtrack, which demanded a second edition to be released the following year. Evidently, Trainspotting and its score had an profound impact on pop culture.
Wes Anderson
Director, producer and screenwriter Wes Anderson is renowned for framing his films with a distinctive style – visually, narratively and musically. Anderson’s soundtracks, devised with his longtime music supervisor Randall Poster, are idiosyncratic as they are typically composited of 1960’s and 70s pop music, and just one artist or group tends to dominate it. In this way, Anderson’s films became cultural manifestations of specific time periods and ultimately, “gave old songs new life”.
One could say Rushmore, is Anderson’s most notable musical success. According to the filmmaker, “Max always wears a blazer and the British Invasion sounds like music made by guys in blazers, but still rock ‘n’ roll”. This essential soundtrack is so abundant with sonorous music, Jillian Mapes comments in Flavor Wire:
“Many of these songs are so deeply embedded in certain scenes, it’s difficult to imagine them without the accompanying visual playing out in your mind.”
Faces “Oh La La” shaped an exemplary closing scene in Rushmore. As the screen fades out on a group of family and friends all dancing together, the folksy track persuades the audience to feel Max’s happiness. The lyrics that tell the tale of a grandfather and grandson’s conversation reflects the outgoing wisdom of a character who started off somewhat naive.
The Royal Tenenbaums, another of Anderson’s artistic successes, comparably features a variety of rock songs from the 60’s through to the 90s. As Royal causes chaos with his grandchildren, running through crossings, water-bombing houses and even engaging in petty thievery, “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” (Paul Simon) touches us with the characters’ youthful delight and free spirit. This tune fits the scene like a glove as Simon’s ‘Me and Julio’ refers to two boys breaking the law. No doubt, the energetic jingle of the music imparts the characters’ glee on the viewer.
Cliff Martinez
The works of musician and songwriter Cliff Martinez are examples of how the standards set by the above mentioned soundtracks have continued in more recent film. The American composer (and previous member of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers) commenced a nontraditional approach by producing “stark and spark” scores for his often dark toned films.
Martinez shapes the soundtrack of Drive as important as the film itself. Director Nicolas Winding Refn instructed on having an electronic sound, but to also create abstract moments in order for the audience to see things from the driver’s perspective. The title sequence is guided by the synthetic melody of Kavinsky (ft.Lovefoxxx) “Nightcall” that fashions Drive a neo-noir art house feature.
Tracks “Under Your Spell” and “Tick of the Clock” were composed by mixer John Jewel with a ‘fairytale’ like quality and as such, imparts that feeling to the viewer. An ethereal retro score continues, with Martinez’ original tracks such as “I Drive” and “Bride of Deluxe” literally driving the plot.
https://youtu.be/LONRNnZ0cUk
James Verniere of the Boston Herald explains:
“The cool crowd isn’t just watching Drive; they’re listening to it, too… The Drive soundtrack is such an integral part of the experience of the film, once you see it, you can’t imagine the film without it.”
Also composed by Martinez, Springs Breakers is another integral exhibition of how important soundtrack is to set the tone of a film. Partnered up with electronic DJ Skrillex, the duo produced a combination of EDM (electronic dance music) and southern hip hop that wholly embodies Spring Breaker’s style. The milieu of Floridian underworld, blinded by a neon filter and vivid colours is accompanied the hypnotic, rave-like sounds produced by the pair.
https://youtu.be/WCuqIbybHc4
Whilst the southern rap aura emitted by Alien (played by James Franco), the local rapper and gangster, is sustained with tracks by Waka Flocka Flame, “Young Niggas” and “Fuck This Industry”.
Academy Award Winner of Best Original Song (2015), Rapper Common, recently remarked:
“When that song becomes part of a movie. Its forever bonded with the spirit and message of the film”.
It is true that music is in fact, the often highly undervalued element that makes a film. The countless layers of sound design and special effects that composite the final mix acts as nodes that each play a particular part. The filmic journey is experienced not just through the visual, but equally the sound, which go hand in hand.