We all have those favourite films, those most beloved television programmes where the enjoyment of the storyline is enhanced by some fabulous music. In short, the soundtrack and the music are more than the sum of its parts. These are some of mine.
Midnight in Paris - a 2011 film written and directed by Woody Allen
Opening
Sequence ‘Si tu vous ma mere (If you see my mother)’, performed by Sidney Bechet on Soprano Sax. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnpWcwMNyKY&t=9s
The beautiful opening scene tracks Paris from daybreak to midnight and has been described as Wood Allen’s love letter to Paris. The hero of the story Gil Pender, a screenwriter and aspiring novelist, is forced to confront the shortcomings of his relationship with his materialistic fiancée and their divergent views on life and aspirations, which become increasingly exaggerated as he travels back in time to the 1920s each night at midnight. This is one of those films which we love so much that we can quote lines from it and during a short break to Paris at the beginning of this year we joined the fabulous “Cine Balade” a movie walk through the City of Dreams. Our wonderful guide Juliette started the tour playing the Bechet piece. We were smitten.
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud - Lift to the Scaffold
1958 crime thriller directed by Louis Malle, film score by Miles Davis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXWs52QiiIM&t=1s
The film stars Jeanne Moreau and Maurice Ronet as illicit lovers whose murder plot starts to unravel after one of them becomes trapped in an elevator. Mile Davis’ score for the film is considered by many to be groundbreaking, with jazz critic Phil Johnson describing it as "the loneliest trumpet sound you will ever hear, and the model for sad-core music ever since. Hear it and weep."
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Christmas Time is Here)
TV film 1965 - Vince Guaraldi Trio (vocal version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvK3jEXJFdg
An unseasonal offering but surely the very best jazz Christmas record. On December 9, 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas aired on TV screens across America and instantly captured the hearts and ears of a generation. Jazz artist Vince Guaraldi, working primarily with bassist Fred Marshall and drummer Jerry Granelli composed this magical tune featuring young choral singers from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael, CA. The melancholy and wistful nature of Charlie Brown is brought to life in this beautiful rendition.
Diva 1981
French thriller directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Aria “Ebben? Ne Andro Iontana” from La Wally composed by Alfredo Catalini and performed by Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hsmoo97CVA&list=RD2hsmoo97CVA&start_radio=1
I was a fan of Moviedrome, a BBC series presented by Alex Cox who would provide intriguing and interesting descriptions of his favourite cult films and Diva was one such film. A postal worker’s secret opera recording sparks a gripping chase through Paris and this haunting piece of music captured the mix of genres – noir, new wave.
Death in Venice
Mahler Symphony No 5 Adagietto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUV3Ueobr88&list=RDBUV3Ueobr88&start_radio=1
I’m aware that this sumptuous piece of music will be so familiar, but I include it nevertheless. As I stepped off the train at Venice with my inter-railing student colleagues in the 1980s, I was absolutely captivated by this most beautiful of cities. This piece of music ran through my head as we wandered the squares and streets. I had long adored Visconti’s film, being a huge fan of Dirk Bogarde and the Thomas Mann novella. Mann himself once said that he had “given Aschenbach the mask of Mahler”. The journalist Susanne Kubler described the film’s soundtrack as much more than just a background to the action “the music becomes the narrator”. It is simply sublime.
From the TV series Homeland
Truth – Kamasi Washington
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyV5fOqxlL4&list=RDJyV5fOqxlL4&start_radio=1 (the music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqKkxh57KGc (the episode ending)
From the moment I heard this piece of music I loved it. It was playing as the magnificent TV series Homeland concluded. Whilst others had written the series off, those who persevered to the end and Lindsay and I were amongst that number were rewarded with the most beautiful denouement. James Donaghy wrote in The Guardian:
“The final episode was titled Prisoners of War, a homage to the Israeli series on which it was based, and a reference to the endless cycle of strike and counterstrike, confidence and betrayal, in which the intelligence officer Carrie (Claire Danes) and her long-time mentor, Saul (Mandy Patinkin), are trapped. In the final episode Carrie, Russia’s star defector, lives in a god-tier apartment in Moscow. She has just finished her first book and, to celebrate, her partner takes her to see the jazz star Kamasi Washington in concert. It’s the discordant avant-garde jazz that has opened every show since 2011. It’s the very essence of Carrie’s Dionysian energy – chaotic, intuitive, transgressive.
Back in the US, Saul gets an advance copy of her book, a Snowden-esque memoir called Tyranny of Secrets – Why I Had to Betray My Country. It’s a real page-turner. Saul particularly likes the hidden message he extracts from the spine of the book about a backdoor in the Russian’s missile defence system. Carrie is the new asset. As the penny drops, Saul beams a smile of fatherly pride. Logistically, it’s entirely implausible, but emotionally, it’s the perfect conclusion – it’s Homeland in a nutshell.”
The piece of music being played was entitled “Truth” and the truth was that Carrie had neither abandoned her country nor defected from the idea of democratic rule. The music could not have been more perfect. Homeland fans wept at this beautiful and perfect conclusion.