It’s clear in every frame that Invictus is about Nelson Mandela’s strategy to use a national love of rugby in the service of national racial healing in post-Apartheid South Africa. But in case we miss the point, the South African vocal group Overtone sings the emotions we’re meant to feel, in a song called “Colorblind.” So welcome to the first in an occasional airing of one critic’s pet peeves: I hate songs in non-musical movies that tell us what we’re meant to feel! Especially in serious dramas! The minute the tunes come up, I think, “Uh oh, they couldn’t figure out how to get the action across in silence.” Sometimes, I even mentally strip the music out as I’m watching.
I mean, I’m not even crazy about including cool songs by bitchin’ indie bands, the kind incorporated into Up in the Air. And believe me, I love that movie.
See that picture above? That’s Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, riding his new-fangled bicycle to Burt Bacharach’s “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.” Great song, great scene, great use of music because the music is the action. In a movie set on a rugby field, though, in the heat of competition, when Nelson Mandela himself has urged victory, don’t you think that’s enough inspiration?
Here’s where you tell me all the songs you do or don’t like in movies, and I hum along.
Image credit: Everett Collection
I actually hated the use of music throughout “The Hangover.” Every song was a current radio hit which made it feel a little desperate and empty and, in a few years, will make it seem really dated.
I agree – using Right Round during the credits sealed that feeling for me, and I hadn’t even heard the song until I saw that film.
That was likely a stylistic choice by the filmmakers because that is all you hear in Vegas casinos. You’ll hear the same 10-15 songs over and over and over again until you hate them.
Here’s a few moments in cinema that I cannot possibly imagine without the music, and it amplifies the feeling:
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzu – When they finally see the jaguar shark they play Sigur Ros’s Staralfur. Magical.
Magnolia – I don’t know the name of the song, but the chorus is sung by the cast as it pans to each of them 3/4 of the way through the movie “It’s not going to stop, ’till you wise up”. I think it was even nominated an oscar for that song
In fact, most of wes anderson’s movies are scored beautifully and amplify each scene.
Empire records had cast singing and did it originally and well.
And not a movie, but i dare anyone to watch the ‘series’ finale of scrubs and listen to Peter Gabriel’s version of “Book of Love” and not be moved.
I have to disagree with the Magnolia song. That is a prime example in my eyes of beating a dead horse with a song. Especially at that point in the movie. The emotions are already running high, now I have to sit through a cast sing along? PSHAW!
I think blogs have become a place where people just complain. No realy interaction or learning – just a bunch of people b!tching about things that bother them.
As a feature film maker myself, I can tell you that a movie without music has a minimum of emotional impact. The music really adds the emotion/mood to the whole movie. However, I will agree that sometimes music is sometimes overdone or done poorly.
Kim, I’m thinking specifically of songs–I agree with you that music can add to the mood of the movie. Then again, I think the impact of The Hurt Locker is enhanced by using so much ambient sound, rather than a tuneful score.
The same can be said about No Country For Old Men. The Coens barely used any music at all in that film, and it only served to amp up the suspense because there wasn’t music tipping you off to every plot turn. It was brilliant.
I agree with Minutia – one of the things I noticed )with great relief) was how the Coens used silence the way others use music. It worked so well and I wish more film makers would explore not just the absence of music, but how to use silence as a narrative tool.
The soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire is an example of absolute perfect use of music. That movie is driven by the music and each song fits perfectly and is part of the story.
An example of an individual song like Lisa is talking about that stands out in my mind is a song that by itself is outstanding but is a perfect example of what she is talking about is “Secret Garden” by Bruce Springstein in Jerry Maguire. Overly sentimental and unnecessarily direct. However, in the same movie the use of Bob Dylan’s “Shelter from the Storm” is absolutely PERFECT.
Woops, I meant for this to be a stand alone comment not a reply. Oh well
Gee, I guess you hate The Wonder Years?
The Wonder Years is a terrible example as the music of that show was as much a part of the storylines as anything.
The music of the show set the mood, the very thing Lisa apparently hates for some weird reason.
The music used in The Watchmen was way too overbearing. A film’s soundtrack shouldn’t make me so aware that I am watching a movie; it should serve to make me forget that.
I really didn’t care for the music in Watchmen either. I’ve read the book and understand why the director chose to incorporate songs so prominently, but still felt it was distracting.
In the book, each chatper is named from a line of a song or poem that fits thematically with the story.
Watchmen is an interesting example. At times I thought the music choice was inspired (Times they are a-changing for the intro), laughable (Hallelujah during the sex scene) or just too obvious its inappropriate (all along the wachtower during the walk to the final battle)
I knew it would take less than 30 minutes for someone that doesn’t realize that “Hallelujah” is actualy about orgasm would say that it was laughable for the Watchmen scene. This is a reverse effect: songs being used in the wrong context like Marissa Cooper dying or Mark Harmon getting shot on “West Wing” that makes them think that THAT is what the song is about. Cohen even has more sexually provactive lyrics for “Hallelujah” that he sings live. That song was a PERFECT choice for that scene.
Dave, I think the point is that we all get that there is an orgasm going on, hence the “Hallelujah” song during a sex scene being unneccessary and laughable.
then if Hallelujah IS about orgasms then its even worse- Zack Snyders idea for music in Watchmen was just painfully obvious and literate. again, the song “all along the watchtower” was put when they were literally, walking to the watchtower!
Paige, “All Along the Watchtower” was in the graphic novel in reference to “outside in the cold distance, a wild cat did growl; two riders were approaching, and the wind began to howl”. That quote was used as the epigram to the issue where they arrive at the base. Snyder was being faithful to the book.
Alan: the problem is that to put the actual song in was a bit on-the-nose. It also didn’t fit with the era; it was supposed to be 1985 but a song from the ’60s was playing.
Perfectly stated– not just in regards to “Watchmen,” but every movie.
Just because Jeff Buckley thought the song was about orgasm does not make it so. Leonard Cohen is on record as being unimpressed by the use of his song in Watchmen.
Hallelujah is about an orgasm?
False Hallelujah was actually a gospel inspired song and Cohen’s original version contains several biblical references, most notably evoking the adulterous stories of Samson and Delilah from the Book of Judges as well as King David and Bathsheba: “you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you”
I like the irritation, but I would actually put the Butch Cassidy Bike scene at the absolute top of the list of headache-inducing, annoying musical scenes in dramatic movies. Hilarious that you would use it as an example of what not to do, when its picture next to the headline is what inspired me to read your rant.
Ryan, you beat me to it. That Butch scene was a perfect example of a song injected intrusively and CLUMSILY into a scene. Like they were saying, Burt wrote this song and it’s nice and we have to stick it somewhere. It was a terrible example, Lisa, and doesn’t support your point at all. Like Ryan said, it’s a example of what you want to avoid.
It’s a good song on it’s own, but doesn’t work in this film. It’s a modern song and it shouldn’t have been put in a western. It actually takes you out of the moment because it is distracting.
I meant “as an example of what to do”
I see what you mean Lisa, but music has been used since the beginning of movies. Whey you say “the music is telling you what to feel” YOU’RE RIGHT. A film maker is trying to MAKE you feel a certain way and music helps with that.
I do hate when they use literal music. For example, a scene where a guy gets dumped by his girl, and they play a song about getting dumped. I hate that.
And another thing, a movie without music is BORING.
Can you imagine THERE WILL BE BLOOD without that great score? The music gave the movie a weird and uncomfortable vibe. WIthout it man, it could have been boring.
Yes, the music is awesome. But there’s no “love theme” for TWBB, and no indie musician signing the Ballad of Daniel Plainview. Fortunately.
Not entirely true. No Country for Old Men had absolutely no musical score and I would not describe that movie as boring in the slightest.
It was SOOOOOO boring and ridiculous. Another movie I would never waste my time seeing again. Two hours of my life I’ll never get back. What was the big deal about this movie anyway?
It had the mariachi band playing for 10 seconds, but that was it for music. That was the first thing I commented on after the movie was done. I definitely think it added to some of the tension and suspense of the film.
Count me in with the people who don’t understand No Country for Old Men’s appeal. What is it about movies with guys sporting horrible hairdos and downbeat senseless endings that seem to have Oscar written all over them? (And why does that remind me of “Tropic Thunder”…)
I personally can’t imagine There Will Be Blood without the milkshake line to be perfectly honest, but then again I didn’t care for the film.
Newsflash: IT WAS BORING.
chazz. we get it. you like michael bay. go watch your transformers dvd and be quiet. some people actually want to see interesting plots and don’t need overblown cgi, sound fx, and music manipulation to find a movie enjoyable or since you can’t come up with a better adjective- not “boring”.
to really? – you’re overdoing it with playing the esoteric cinema type – after all if you pretend to be into something for the sake of being in the minority or exclusive, well…you must know something the rest of us don’t. You’re just like all the typical know-it-all-jerk-offs who stand in line at film festivals. Who or what is a michael bay?
She is not referring to the score of movies, she is referring to the songs that especially made for the movies. Think Celine Dion for Titanic.
Was Titanic that bad? I don’t recall My Heart Will Go On playing at anytime DURING the movie. Only the end credits. Correct me if I’m wrong, but Titanic is not a big offender in what’s being discussed.
I’m thinking of one of those Mandy Moore movies where Liz Phair’s “Why Can’t I” plays over a movie montage of a young couple flirting. GAG.
If I remember correctly, Hitchcock’s The Birds has no music at all – ambient or otherwise – which makes the bird noises so much more threatening, IMO.
junierizzle, there’s a difference between music that blends seamlessly with the movie, and music that tries to fake emotion where there’s none to be had. I agree with Lisa wholeheartedly that the music in Invictus was egregious in trying to manufacture emotions. Eastwood fell down on the job in making an inspirational movie, so he had to use music to try to save the story. Didn’t work for me.
Many of Eastwood’s recent movies don’t work for me – I see them once because of all the hoopla, then I don’t ever want to see them again, e.g. Mystic River, the Hilary Swank boxing movie, the Angelina Jolie losing her son movie – they all leave me feeling grim and dismayed.
Right on, Chazz. Eastwood movies are such grim, humorless downers. The worst offender was Mystic River, or as friends of mine call it, Spastic Liver.
I liked the use of the song “Colorblind” in the movie ‘Cruel Intentions’.
*That* was an amazing use of music in that movie – it made that song one of my favorites for life.
that was a great song for that movie!
Every music moment in Cruel Intentions was amazing!
The film ‘Adam’ had a couple moments like this, which made the scenes seem like an episode of The OC.
To me a song–if done right–serves the same purpose as a film score. It enhances the emotion of the moment and can be very effective. It’s true that some filmmakers overdo it or just plain pick the wrong songs, but when done right it can make a movie better than it otherwise would be.
I concur completely. Well said.
I understand the feeling of frustration that comes with inserting music for emotional effect (I still don’t get what Radiohead’s “15 Step” was meant to do at the end of the first Twilight movie besides breaking my heart that Radiohead was pulled into a campy teen vampire romance), but sometimes music can be used to its full effect without even trying. Call me somewhat crazy, but I think Garden State and Almost Famous are among relatively recent examples of how music can be used well in movies. Just the slow build of The Shins’ “New Slang” after Natalie Portman tells Zach Braff that the song will change his life and the ease from contention to unity of Stillwater via Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” still resonate strongly with me as a movie goer and a music lover.
Almost Famous had a perfect soundtrack! I love when Every Picture Tells a story kicks up when Penny and the enemy go to the hotel.
Fabulous use of music in a movie!! I loved loved loved loved the music. And my favorite was when they picked up Russell at the house, got on the bus, and started singing Tiny Dancer. Such a fabulous movie.
That was another golden moment to, especially when Every Picture Tells a Story cuts out for a minute as William watches a couple sing acoustic together and reappears with Penny as she grabs him. Perfection
I would agree… Almost famous is the perfect example on how music should be put in a movie. But then it was a movie about a rock band. But I couldn’t imagine the ‘Tiny Dancer’ scene with any other song. perfect.
To MsSuniDaze – of course a movie about a rock band needs rock music to support it but I mentioned it as an example of movies using music to enhance but not drill in emotion.
Zoey.. I totally agree. This movie is the perfect example on how music should be used. It helps the story flow along without using overly dramatic music to set the tone. Because it’s a movie about a Rock band they could have completley gone overboard with the music. But like you said…it ‘enhances’ the movie perfectly.
Sorry, but the Tiny Dancer scene was embarrassing – a ten year-old’s fantasy of what might happen on a rock band’s tour bus.
The Music in My Sister’s Keeper made it seem like one long music video. bleh.
My pet peeve about the use of music in movies is in movie trailers, when the producers (or whomever) decide to use some trite, tired crap like “Who Let The Dawgs Out” or “Can’t Touch This” as though it’s some hit from today to make a comic point.
Often trailers are made so early–before the movie is completed or maybe even begun–and music rights haven’t been cleared, so “temp” music is stuck in.
Yeah, but it’s always the same 5 songs. Lame.