I spoke to both, as well as to Paul Grabowsky, Christopher Gordon and music and sound lecturer Michael McLennan, for a feature exploring this topic, published yesterday in the Review section of The Weekend Australian (not linked here as it’s behind the paper’s paywall).
Obviously there are major exceptions to the rule. Among the more notable examples of Australian films successfully exploiting the power of music are a handful of musicals and stories where
the music plays a prominent role - Moulin
Rouge, Bran Nue Dae, The Sapphires, Muriel’s
Wedding, Priscilla, Strictly Ballroom and Man of Flowers - as well as features where
the musical soundtrack has played a hugely important creative role such as the first
two Mad Max films and Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Yet in too many other cases Gross thinks many local filmmakers
have been slow to realise the potential power of music, holding back just when
they should be pushing forward, almost as if they’re embarrassed by the display
of emotion. And he’s not alone in wondering if the Australian psyche is to
blame.
Armiger, head of screen music at AFTRS (the Australian Film
Television and Radio School) recalls a US editing teacher at the school telling
him Australian directors would always be reluctant to go for the emotional
moment, and that he could never work it out. “It was almost as if it was
unmanly.”
In sound mixing theatres Armiger says he has often been amazed at
the way directors will “privilege the sound design, which doesn’t have
emotional content, over the music.
The sound of a V8 engine will get them excited, whereas a bit of music
will make them embarrassed. They’d really not want to go there.”
 |
| Alexandre Desplat |
Grabowsky, however, wonders if this retreat from emotion is not
just a local phenomenon but an international one keyed into today’s regard for irony,
quotation and coolness. As Armiger notes, US film scores are now often minimalistic
(especially if they’re independents). The exception is genre films – science fiction, action-adventure, children’s or horror - which tend to feature loud, often bombastic scores.
But as McLennan points out, the rise to Hollywood prominence
of French composer Alexandre Desplat (Argo;
Zero Dark Thirty; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows among many others) is bringing Hollywood scores to a place somewhere between those two extremes. "He can write
dramatic music that directors don’t think is overstating the case.”
Here's a couple of lists I compiled as memory-joggers while researching the article. Note these are personal favourites and not an attempt at objective listings of the most important and influential film scores (though of course many are).
Top 20 Original Film Soundtracks
1.The Draughtsman’s Contract – Michael Nyman
2. Paris Texas – Ry Cooder
3. Lawrence of Arabia – Maurice Jarre
4. Psycho – Bernard Herrmann
5. Koyaanisqatsi – Philip Glass
6. Twin Peaks – Angelo Badalamenti
7. The Good, The Bad & The Ugly – Ennio
Morricone
8. Three Colours Blue – Zbigniew Preisner
9. Goldfinger – James Barry, Monty Norman
10. Run Lola Run – Tykwer, Klimek &
Heil
11. The Godfather – Nino Rota
12 The Third Man – Anton Karas
13) Lift to the Scaffold – Miles Davis
14) Shaft – Isaac Hayes
15) The Pink Panther – Henry Mancini
16) Tron : Legacy - Daft Punk
17) Taxi Driver – Bernard Herrmann
18) Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! – Ennio
Morricone
19) The Thin Red Line – Hans Zimmer
20) Blade Runner – Vangelis
Found
tracks / original and found (ie. films that use pre-recorded musical pieces, either for the entire soundtrack or in conjunction with an original score)
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Heat
3. A Clockwork Orange
4. Apocalypse Now
5. Pulp Fiction
6. The Harder They Come
7. Black Orpheus
8. Mystery Train
9. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
10) Trainspotting.
11) Days of Heaven
12) The Graduate
13) The Gospel According to St Matthew
14) Midnight Cowboy
15) Kika
16) Drive
17) The Indian Runner
18) U-Turn
19) Easy Rider
20) Traffic
1 comment:
I can't help but think that directors who use pre-recorded musical pieces are somehow cheating. Okay, some instances are fine, but it's a bit out of hand now and often just an excuse to spin off a greatest hits soundtrack album. Vietnam films - cough, cough.
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