Friday, April 3, 2009

Music and movie... friends or foes?


I've been an avid original soundtracks and film music collector for most of my life, and still I didn't find the PERFECT music for a movie in my 200+ OST's discs & disks collection... the classic, Alfred Newman's, Rozsa's, Hermann's, Williams', Horner's... them all did a superb job combined with director work, but IMO what really make a film & music connection is when, too seldom, music hints instead of shouting at the audience... Nyman's the master ("The Belly of an Architect" et al.), also Jocelyn Pook in Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut" and Laurent Petigand in Wim Wenders' "The Wings of Desire"... isn't a case great music comes from almost unknown composers... the director usually got trapped in some obscure music by chance and this very casual attitude is as mysterious as love and gives to these quite common practice an STP-like character and special quality.
Sometimes music for films is still composed in an old-timey fashion - i.e. musicians are exposed to several views of film itself to absorb the moods, images, the message the director wished to give, etc.
It's like an accelerated exposure to emotions and life which is always behind a melody or a tune... after a sunset or a travel or... well, you got the idea... the process - being a job - is only someway forced.
A fascination... and a miracle if something special stands the abuse.
... then we have the skillfull Hollywood's soundtracks composers... they're clever artisans, they "know" how get tears in audience at the proper, right moment... like pressing an "ON/OFF" switch... well, they produce soundtracks.
... but what I tried to suggest above... it's different. It's true, unique, magic... it's music for films.

No comments:

Post a Comment