Friday, February 27, 1998
The sound of music brings movies to life
MUSIC: Soundtracks can complete
a film, or be its only redeeming quality
I own over 45 soundtracks. I have to admit, that number wouldn’t
be quite so high had I not started writing for The Bruin, where
countless publicists throw their soundtracks at us as they hope for
the almighty Sound Bites coverage.
Somehow, though, I’ve become a bit of a collector. Maybe it was
because of The Bruin. Maybe it came about from my broadening music
tastes. Maybe I felt competitive with the girlfriend of one of my
best friends, who also collects soundtracks.
But I like to think that I have so many film scores and
soundtracks thanks to the movies themselves.
I’m not much of a film buff, to be quite honest. I do own a mean
movie collection, but I’m sure I’m missing a lot of the "classics"
that just plain bore me (i.e. "Dazed and Confused"). For me, most
of the emotion I extract from any given movie comes from the music.
The musical component of any film is what heightens the emotion and
mood of the movie. From horror movies (who, besides I, will be
forever scarred by that haunting string composition from "The
Shining"?) and adventure movies, to Disney movies and comedies,
it’s the music, for me, that makes a movie unique and full of
feeling.
All my favorite movies have incredible scores/soundtracks that
beautifully match the emotion of the movie. The over-the-top
heroism of the "Star Wars" scores. The hip yet stark sounds from
the "Trainspotting" album. The ambient and spiritual aura of Peter
Gabriel’s score for "The Last Temptation of Christ." And I think
that most tend to do this sort of thing … y’know, get the
soundtracks to movies that moved us.
Take this whole "Titanic" hype. Can you believe how many copies
of James Horner’s score are selling? Even though 850,000 copies
sold (last week) is, like, rare, I can believe it. First of all,
the nation’s top single, Celine "Pomeranian Face" Dion’s "My Heart
Will Go On," is featured on the instrumental-heavy album. Good
move, Sony. Second, the score has Celtic/Irish influences
throughout the album, and that sort of New Age-type of music is
really popular right now – just look at how popular Enya is. I tend
to think the genre helps people relax, but that’s just my
theory.
And lastly, maybe most importantly, people are in love with that
damn movie, and with that music they are able to relive those
intense moments of danger and romance. I can’t even count how many
women I know have admitted to buying that soundtrack because of its
dead-on musical expressions of a love nobody in reality
experiences.
Mike Prevatt