I had first heard Adagio
for Strings back when I was in high school and my old band director showed
it to me. A slow-moving and equally slow-burning song, it was made even more
famous when Platoon used it as the
centerpiece to its darkest, most horrific moments. A certain conviction and
deep and profound movement, it’s a flawless classical piece. This version is
even more fitting because it’s a symphony that is conducted by Leonard
Bernstein who happened to write the music for West Side Story, which played at the festival today (Thursday Aug
1) but we didn’t attend (it was $20!)
One of the best touches to any of Quentin Tarantino’s films is his way of combining music with a scene for absolute perfection. One of those scenes is the one in Reservoir Dogswhere Mr. Blonde takes out his anger and anguish on an ill-advised cop in stunningly memorable fashion. Easily regarded a classic film now, it took some time for people to catch on and come to think about it, the film has at least a handful of other significant songs but “Stuck in the Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel is probably the best.
I’m not sure if Mo’ Better Blues is considered a classic but I definitely like the film a lot. And even more because Spike Lee wanted to name it A Love Supreme after John Coltrane’s brilliant four-piece suite. Coltrane’s widow asked Lee to change the name of the film but luckily she let him use the first movement, Acknowledgement, on the film for what is a moment of beautiful music magic.
The film Donnie Darko is one of those cult films that you either love or don’t really care for. Personally, I feel like it deserves a lot of credit for presenting a story about adolescence in an understanding and moving fashion, while still using a lot of fantastic music throughout. The scene where they use Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” is really special and the song itself, well, it’s really quite awesome.
Martin Scorsese, like Tarantino, has always been able to combine music into his films: with a deft touch. It’s fitting that tomorrow (Friday Aug 2) we get to kick off the festival with his stone-cold classic Goodfellas and while there are many songs from that film that could go here, I will go with an even older classic of his, Mean Streets, and its use of The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” Mostly because it inspired Brian Wilson to write “Don’t Worry Baby,” (I’ll include that classic song by The Beach Boys, too, just because I love it, although it’s entirely irrelevant to this post – well not entirely since there is this song) but also because the scene he uses it in is a chilling take of poignant humanity. And with that, to the festival we come! – Bryan
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