If there’s one thing that Quentin Tarantino’s
“Kill Bill” saga has taught us (other than that
squishing someone’s eyeball between your toes is a little
creepy), it’s that with the right music a good film can
become a great one.
The art of making a good mix tape isn’t limited to
“High Fidelity” junkies. And though we k now music can
help a film, it’s difficult to figure out just how to
construct an enjoyable, provocative and fitting soundtrack.
Obviously the music should enhance the story being told, but what
exactly is it that separates “The Graduate” from
“Gangs of New York”?
To break it down, we’ll look at a few recent soundtracks
that are also pretty good CDs and figure out what’s so
special about each one.
“She’s kind of Sheryl Crow-ish crossed with a
post-Partridge Family pre-“˜L.A. Law’ Susan Dey kind of
thing, but, you know, uh, black.”
First and foremost you have to know your audience. The
“High Fidelity” soundtrack mixes together musicians
from many different genres (Bob Dylan, The Beta Band, Stevie
Wonder) but includes songs that all appeal to someone who would
want the soundtrack to a movie like “High
Fidelity.”
Notably absent are any chart-topping hit songs, except for
“Let’s Get It On,” which is sung by Jack Black on
the album. The music insider tone of the soundtrack fits the tone
of the film; but more importantly, it fits the film’s
audience.
“I’ll tell you what I am ““ I’m the damn
paterfamilias!”
Not only did the soundtrack to “O Brother, Where Art
Thou?” win Best Soundtrack at the 2002 Grammy Awards; it also
won Best Album. In fact, it won five Grammys in all, a big surprise
for a bluegrass album with no apparent marketability other than the
fact that it’s a movie soundtrack. Now it’s one of the
most popular, and best-selling, soundtracks of all time.
The reasons for the soundtrack’s success can partly be
attributed to the fact that most people don’t know very much
about bluegrass music. The “O Brother” soundtrack has
become a defining example of what its genre of music is today, in
the same way that the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack
helped define disco when it was released.
Of course the “O Brother” soundtrack is also really,
really good. T-Bone Burnett, who produced the album, assembled a
phenomenal team of artists to work on the project, from Alison
Krauss to Emmylou Harris to Ralph Stanley, who won a Grammy for his
performance of “O Death.” It’s one of the few
times the Awards got it right.
“Now that I’ve met you, would you object to never
seeing me again?”
As a film, “Magnolia” works because it blends
emotions that would normally seem oxymoronic. Some characters love
to feel isolated, while others feel isolated because they love. Who
better to capture such complexity than Aimee Mann, whose voice and
lyrics are frequently so deep that even pilot fish have trouble
hearing them.
The “Magnolia” soundtrack is essentially a Mann CD;
nine of the 13 tracks are hers. It’s a great soundtrack
because it lets the film associate so closely with an artist whose
music represents what the movie is all about. In fact,
writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson didn’t write the
screenplay until after he heard Mann’s songs for the
soundtrack. The bolded line above, spoken in the movie by Claudia
Wilson Gator (Melora Walters), is a variation of one of
Mann’s lyrics, furthering the emotional relationship between
film and music.
“I’m applying to Oxford and the Sorbonne.
Harvard’s my safety.”
If there’s any soundtrack that best recreates the overall
style of a movie, it’s the soundtrack to
“Rushmore.” As intelligently quirky as the movie
itself, the soundtrack is a true extension of how the film makes
you feel while watching it.
Mixing an almost-Renaissance score by Mark Mothersbaugh with the
classic rock of Cat Stevens, John Lennon and The Who, the
soundtrack moves from one genre to the next as seamlessly as the
film does. Is it all supposed to be funny? Probably, but that
depends on what mood you’re in when you’re watching
““ or listening.
“Those of you lucky enough to have your lives, take them
with you. However, leave the limbs you’ve lost. They belong
to me now.”
Tarantino connects visual images to songs in his movies’
soundtracks better than any director working today. Who
doesn’t think of the image of Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah)
walking down that hospital corridor whenever someone whistles
“Twisted Nerve,” by Bernard Herrmann? Along the same
note, who doesn’t think of the image of Jackie Brown (Pam
Grier) standing on those airport moving walkways whenever
“Across 110th Street,” by Bobby Womack, plays?
Tarantino has an amazing ability to connect music and specific
visual images in such a way that they become memorable, so
listening to a Tarantino soundtrack becomes an extension of
watching a Tarantino film.
And while every soundtrack is good (or bad) for different
reasons, the ones that make you remember songs in the context of
how they’re used in movies are ultimately the soundtracks
you’ll listen to over and over again.
E-mail Tracer at jtracer@media.ucla.edu.