Scenic Sounds

Mike Mills’s deeply personal film Beginners saunters throughout the kaleidoscopic first person narrative of Oliver (Ewan McGregor, The Ghost Writer), a solitary man shaken up by his dysfunctional yet beloved relationship with his father Hal (Christopher Plummer, The Last Station) and the woman who brings the relevance of romantic love back into his life, Anna (Melanie Laurent, Inglorious Basterds). Although the earnest yet risible screenplay usually prevents a filmic humdrum, the soundtrack to Beginners also contributes to this effort thanks to fresh music supervision by Robin Urbang and scoring by Brian Reitzell, Dave Palmer and Roger Neill. Their contributions highlight the solo piano as they take a less is more approach to the original motion picture soundtrack. Read More »

Joe Wright’s (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement) new action thriller Hanna proves that originality is once again the key to entertainment. Along with the director’s digression from splendid yet expected romantic dramas, The Chemical Brothers take on the role of film composer and charge their musical energy into the thrilling motion picture. The duo composes an interwoven texture between sight, mind, and sound, as they highlight the many layers of psychological conflict in the film. Hanna isn’t your typical mindless stream of electronic beats but a colorful mix of natural sounds metamorphosed into its heightened musical form.  The band takes score making into a new realm without barriers, creating a fusion of a variety of sounds and styles. From the steady march of a military operation to a music box’s dainty lullaby, the Chemical Brothers’ original motion picture score is dynamic track by track.

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The Blue Valentine Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a stunning variety of eclectic instrumentals and vocal pieces, which detail sounds of euphoric love and heartbreak with an added dose of nostalgia. Grizzly Bear serves as the mastermind of this filmic project, as they perform most songs on the soundtrack.

The Brooklyn based folk band’s pensive tunes serve as a time warp, drawing the viewer into the relationship of two lovers, Cindy (Michelle Williams, Shutter Island) and Dean (Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl) through the life span of their relationship. “Dory (Instrumental),” “Shift (Alternative Version)” and “I Live With You” detail the breakdown of the contemporary couple’s relationship.  Grizzly Bear utilizes stringed instruments’ piercing sounds to enhance this serious but very down to earth drama. “Dory (Instrumental)” splendidly narrates the descent into romantic turmoil; heavy drumming beats and a strung out vibrato on the banjo and guitar create downhearted melodies and serve as a great instrumental voice.

Vocal contributions also accentuate the recurring flashbacks in Blue Valentine, as the undertone of polyphonic melody creates a blurred sense of time. “Shift,” one of the few vocal pieces in Blue Valentine, places more emphasis on electric guitar, vocal harmonic contributions, and whimsical use of the triangle to connote a sense of transition towards a nearing devastation. In a lyrical sense, “Shift” is quite simple and lends itself mostly to repetition and crooning to magnify the song’s presence, which surprisingly doesn’t create a humdrum effect. Although the track’s tone is dismal, Grizzly Bear’s added whistling in “Shift” prevents it from becoming overbearing and also signifies couple’s dwindling but nevertheless remaining innocence. This metaphorical track’s intricate elements give a stellar portrayal of authentic complexity in a piece of music thereby making it a key song in the soundtrack.

The path towards severed ties comes to a head in “I Live With You.” The track acts as a vessel, for it catapults Blue Valentine into fiery clash of colorful emotions. Grizzly Bear utilizes raspy vocals and a fierce distortion on the electric guitar to create a crescendo of sound, evoking a sense of uncertainty and turmoil that exists between the couple in the film.

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The highly anticipated first installment of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has arrived and, along with it, a powerful musical score. Alexandre Desplat picks up where Nicholas Hooper left off in Half Blood Prince and takes the musical reigns in this heated series. At first, the score for Deathly Hallows could possibly be perceived as unfinished; the magic that Harry Potter scores usually evoke might not initially consume you the way it always has, for it does not possess the comprehensive range of emotions each Potter film has. However, because the story is unfinished and jaw dropping events have yet to unfold, it makes sense that the score is somewhat underdeveloped as well–a score’s duty is to complement and enhance a film’s existing features.

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In this weeks installment of Scenic Sounds, the bi-weekly column at the crossroads of music and film, Megan Acheampong studies the Score from the film Never Let Me Go in a way you never thought was possible.

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