5 Perfect Uses of Music

1 month ago

by Andrew Root

Film scores and soundtracks can be cynically derided as telling the audience what to feel; a cheap shortcut to poignancy or a false sense of excitement. It’s kind of an unjust argument. The music is meant to enhance and support the emotion of a scene. Simply put, that’s its job. But music can be used in some innovative and thrilling ways which elevate the sequence and create moments of brilliance.

I’m focusing on the use of pre-existing songs, because selecting the perfect song is arguably more difficult to nail than writing a piece of music specifically tailored to the scenario. These selections are not meant to embody the ONLY perfect uses of music, or the MOST perfect uses of music, but rather five examples where the soundtrack of a movie marries seamlessly with the action, the scene, and the characters to create a moment so exquisite that it can only be described as… perfect.

1. The Departed - Jack Nicholson Turns the Music Off.

You’re nearing the conclusion of your film, and you’ve spent the majority of the running time establishing that your central antagonist has forces slowly closing in on him from all sides. Traps have been laid by friends and foes alike, and it seems inevitable that the big bad baddie is going down. How do you, as a filmmaker, maintain the power and authority of a character when their screen time is quickly running out? You give him control of the movie itself.

In a move so daring and metafilmic that it caused a theatre patron to shout out “Hey now!” Jack Nicholson wrenches the wheel out of Martin Scorsese’s hands. Nicholson’s Frank Costello is on the way to a drug deal. He’s being tailed rather conspicuously by members of the State police, supposedly being controlled by his mole, Colin (Matt Damon). The Dropkick Murphys’ “Shipping Up To Boston” thunders on the soundtrack as Colin frantically tries to explain that he’s losing his ability to keep both Frank and himself safe, but Frank wants nothing to do with it. Gripping the cell phone in his murderer’s paw, he barks, “GET RID OF THE FUCKING TAIL!” … and the music we thought was independent—was separate from the characters—stops. Costello is so powerful that he transcends his closed world and enters into ours. Only after Colin agrees to call off the pursuit does the music resume. The fight isn’t over for this dog. You can almost see him rise up off the page, grab writer William Monahan’s pen and whisper, “You’d better give me a good death scene.”

2. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind – The Who Set the Scene.

In one of the most captivating character studies ever put to film, George Clooney’s Confessions of a Dangerous Mind tells the true story of a man who created The Dating Game and also murdered 33 people for the CIA… maybe. As the film progresses, Chuck Barris (Sam Rockwell) is constantly looking over his shoulder. When his CIA boss, Jim Bird (Clooney), stops by Chuck’s house to warn him that agents are being killed and there is a mole in their midst, he covers their conversation with the first word in early-1970’s loud—The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” The short scene plays out in subtitles, emphasizing the volume of the music. In and of itself, the scene adds an interesting texture to the movie and highlights the slightly over-the-top secret agent mechanics of the film, but Clooney elevates this technique through a clever repetition.

In the second scene, Chuck’s life is falling apart. His shows are being cancelled, his colleagues are being assassinated, his most significant relationship has reached its breaking point. One way or the other, he’s losing all of his friends. Late at night, a dark figure sits on the diving board over the swimming pool, and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” blasts on the stereo. Chuck emerges in a bathrobe with a loaded gun, and we know exactly what he and Jim are going to talk about. The music sets the scene elegantly with charm and wit, and showcases the intelligence and talent in this actor’s directorial debut.

3. Reservoir Dogs – A Little Light Torturing Music.

When something terrible happens to a “good” character, some part of you is hoping they’ll get out of it. This pathos makes King Kong more than just a giant ape, and turns Simba into a worthy king (of the lions). Storytelling 101 says that we must feel pity and fear for our protagonist, especially at the hands of a powerful antagonist. Rarely has an antagonist had so much power as Michael Madsen’s Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs.

Mr. Blonde’s psychopathic tendencies are hinted at earlier in the film, but in this scene he is given an opportunity to fully indulge himself. His quarry is duct-taped to a chair, and the only witness is bleeding out on the floor. He declares that he finds torturing a police officer “amusing,” and that begging and pleading will bring Officer Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) no avail. Mr. Blonde goes so far as to put on the cheery swing of “Stuck In The Middle With You” by Stealer’s Wheel, highlighting his cavalier madness. The helplessness of Nash’s situation is bad enough, but then Mr. Blonde says he’ll “be right back,” and goes outside to get a can of gas from his car. What happens next is chilling. As the camera follows Mr. Blonde out of the warehouse, the music fades out. The sound doesn’t carry into the street. No one can hear what’s going on. No one can hear Marvin Nash plead for his life. He’s got kids. He’s got a family. He’s begging and no one can hear him except a madman with a razor blade.

4. Magnolia – Everyone Agrees It’s Hopeless.

When the emotion of a situation becomes too great in a traditional musical, the actors are allowed to break into song. These songs serve as a cathartic release, expressing inner feelings which would otherwise be unspeakable—a device, if nothing else (a thoroughly toe-tapping device, but a device nonetheless). So what merits a song about hopelessness, about inevitable defeat—a song filled with crushing depression at its heart—in a movie billed as a straight drama?

How about nine separate characters each dealing with profound loss and self doubt? Magnolia strives to simultaneously depict Claudia (Melora Walters) unable to fathom why a nice guy like Jim (John C. Reilly) would ever want to date her, and Jim praying not to screw it up; Earl and Lily Partridge (Jason Robards and Julianne Moore) ending their lives in a swamp of guilt; Quiz Kid Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) and current wunderkind Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman) both trying to deal with the fact that they’ve peaked far too early and are totally alienated from those around them. There’s death, heartbreak, and painful loneliness all coming to a head, so Paul Thomas Anderson borrows a convention from another genre, and the isolated characters join in a rendition of Aimee Mann’s “Wise Up.” Uniting the various narrative strands thematically as they are coming together on a more literal level, the song delivers an emotional wallop. Everyone’s got their problems, and even though they’re not together, they’re not alone.

5. Wayne’s World – You Headbang to This Song.

How do you introduce the ethos of a group of characters whose core values include partying, goofing around, rock music, and foxes while simultaneously setting the irreverent tone of the film? A bold, brilliant use of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” that’s how! Wayne’s World changed the way a generation experienced this song, and I challenge anyone to describe this scene in any other way than “perfect.”

Andrew Root lives and writes near Lake Ontario. He apologizes to his editor, Elizabeth Cantwell, for including Magnolia instead of American Psycho. Andrew’s previous entries in the “5 Perfect Things” series can be found here and here.