A short list of the best use of music in cinema
By Ben Olson
Reader Staff
The usage of music in cinema is, arguably, just as important as the images captured on the screen. Whether full songs, orchestral scores or moody notes, a film can be made or broken by the music that accompanies it.
Here’s a short list of some of my favorite examples of music on the silver screen. These iconic moments in sound still have the ability to deliver goosebumps on command.
John Williams
Instead of a particular film, one category has to be entirely given to American composer John Williams for his outstanding body of work. With a total of 54 Oscar nominations, Williams is the most-nominated person in Academy Award history after Walt Disney.
Williams’ scores for Jaws, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind were all so popular they even made the Billboard hit singles charts.
Throw a rock and you’ll hit an iconic film with Williams’ score. There’s Home Alone, Jurassic Park, the Indiana Jones franchise and so many more, it’s safe to say he’s cemented his legacy in Tinseltown. He’s just that good.
Fight Club (1999)
When The Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” plays at the end of Fight Club as skyscrapers burn to the ground, something feels resolved in this crazed angsty world created by author Chuck Palaniuk.
Almost Famous (2000)
Director Cameron Crowe has always used music as an uncast character in his films. For the fictional biopic Almost Famous about a band called Stillwater, Crowe’s use of iconic songs gave the film a warm, nostalgic glow. The scene with Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” playing as the band rides in silence on the bus helps push away those dark feelings and culminates with everyone singing loudly together, their differences quashed for the time being.
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
For fans of Quenton Tarantino’s work, it’s impossible to listen to the song “Stuck in the Middle with You,” by Stealers Wheel, without flinching and feeling your ear. The song’s campy, feel-good beat is juxtaposed beautifully in a scene in Reservoir Dogs when actor Michael Madsen cuts off an undercover policeman’s ear while dancing and goofing around. It’s dark, kind of funny and really gets the point across that Tarantino is a madman.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
Perhaps the most famous of the “spaghetti Westerns,” Sergio Leone’s iconic film starring Clint Eastwood has one of the most memorable main themes in film history (I’ll bet a dollar you’re humming it in your head right now, aren’t you?).
The theme, composed by Ennio Morricone, was a two-note motif designed to evoke the howl of a coyote. What’s even better is that the instrumentation changes according to each of the three protagonists: it’s a flute for Eastwood’s “Blondie” character, an ocarino for “Angel Eyes” and human voices for “Tuco.”
The only thing that comes close is Charles Bronson’s character “Harmonica” in Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West, who plays the same haunting bars on a harmonica in his scenes that culminates perfectly with what happens in the final scene.
Lord of the Rings franchise
Canadian Composer Howard Shore might not be a household name like John Williams, but his work with The Lord of the Rings franchise alone puts him at the top of a short list of talented film composers. The orchestral score to LOTR is dynamic and bespoke, with more than 50 different leitmotifs — or returning phrases — that are unique to the location being filmed and the characters in the scene. The result is an expansive, deep and cathartic score that lives up to the films that will be watched for generations.
The Life Aquatic (2004)
It wouldn’t be a list of films with good music without a mention of director Wes Anderson, who has always cultivated a unique and fresh soundtrack for his various films. In The Life Aquatic, the song “Search and Destroy” by The Stooges plays while Bill Murray’s character Steve Zissou snaps and begins firing at pirates who had taken over his ship. The scene is humorous because even though hundreds of bullets are fired, none seem to land anywhere, but the amped up Iggy Pop song is like a shot of adrenalin, propelling the viewer further into Anderson’s precious and strange world. Honorable mention for Nico’s version of “These Days” and Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay” used in different scenes in Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
