Singing is something I've always wanted to do.
Grace, Grace, Grace.
It was a big dream.
♪ I'm feeling like a fool ♪
And it's been great.
♪ They don't love you like I do ♪
Welcome back to "You Know That Scene",
an original series celebrating iconic scenes in cinema.
The scenes are a jumping-off point
for discussion between our esteemed guests,
a group of makers, authors, critics, and influencers,
who all share one thing in common,
a love of film.
The theme of this week's episode
is the power of music in film.
Now, music is everywhere.
We listen to it in our cars, at work,
and when it comes to film,
music can be used to elevate an emotion of a scene,
or an emotion of a character.
And the film I want to talk about is "The High Note".
Dakota Johnson plays an assistant
to one of the biggest musical talents in the world,
but she really dreams of being a producer.
♪ Shout for a minute, shout for a minute oh ♪
Tracee Ellis Ross is Grace Davis is amazing.
I loved her in this role.
I couldn't take my eyes off of her.
I was like, can I buy all of Grace Davis's albums.
She was very strong as Grace.
She made Grace Davis a very strong,
confident on the outside, so to speak, character.
I thought the relationship
between Tracee and Dakota Johnson was terrific.
Uh-ooo.
Getting that kind of chemistry on camera is gold.
And another great example
of the chemistry in this film is,
you know that scene when Dakota Johnson's character
and Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s character
meet for the first time.
♪ Right back where we started from ♪
Are these organic?
♪ It's only just begun ♪
You have no idea
who he really is.
But there is a spark.
So, we're both fairly demanding and very, deeply sad.
Yeah.
And the very first moment they are on screen together
they elevate each other and the movie itself.
Kind of just to dig into that a little bit more.
You can really see,
you know, the attraction they have towards each other
but their real connection was based in music.
You know that scene where they are at the piano
and they are composing together
for the first time.
And it's just so fascinating to see
kind of a song writing session
where ideas are bouncing off of each other
and they just keep adding on
all of a sudden
this original piece of music is born.
It was beautiful to see.
That? No but I liked that.
Do it fast like that again.
Yeah, punch it, punch it more.
♪ Why you always getting in the backseat ♪
♪ Get up in the front I'm not a taxi oh no ♪
It's perfect and it made me wish
that I knew anything about being a musician.
But at the same time when an artist
is true to themselves
and they get some sort of notoriety
and the world responds to them in their honesty
that's exactly the thing that people who just want money
want them to abandon.
Well Grace, thanks for coming in.
So, that scene where Grace Davis is in the boardroom
and all of these smiling Cheshire cat, grinning people
that are like, we're so excited you're here.
And she says,
I think it's time I record a new album.
And everybody's face falls.
It was like record scratch time.
Oh, I get nauseated when I think about it
because she is a legend,
she is so strong,
she's this amazing career
and nobody believes in her anymore.
You know that scene
when Grace and Maggie are in the bathroom
and this is kind of a confessional moment
for Grace where she talks about the struggle of being
an older, black female singer in the music industry.
In the history of music,
only five women over 40
have ever had a number one hit.
And only one of them was black.
It ricocheted through my body when she said that
'cause I know that the reality of that
is very, very, very real.
The fact that there's only so many black women
that are let through the gates at a time.
She wants to continue to evolve as a musician
and that's not how the people see her.
And she has just has no idea
that the best thing
is hiding in plain sight
is her assistant is a great producer.
♪ One, two, three, four ♪
♪ Lonely, bad girl ♪
One of the things that makes Dakota Johnson
very beguiling and very believable in that role is,
you know that scene where she's starts talking about
the music from a producing standpoint
about putting background vocals in
to taking background vocal out.
You took out the backup singers?
They kinda old sounding to me, honestly.
We got plug-ins that do that stuff.
Doing all these different things with the music
that a lot of times
as people that are not musicians
we don't listen for that.
We just think about whether or not we like what we heard
and if it make's us feel some kind of way
or if we wanna tap our toe to it or dance to it.
We don't think about all of the elements
that go into the actual making of the cut.
That's what's funny about artistic industries.
It takes the Grace Davises
and it takes all of the people that are feeling the feelings
but it also takes the Ice Cubes
because you have to get the music to people's ears
or it's never heard.
Let me tell you something,
I've been managing Grace
longer than you've probably been alive.
Another thing that I like,
kind of looking into the relationship was,
they're on the plane
and you know that scene where
he's keeping red vines in his bag for her.
Boom, give it to me.
You know I don't like sugar.
Ah-ha.
I only carry this
on my off chance that you might want some,
you know. Uh-huh.
And, you know, she's gonna ask for it.
Give me another red vine.
And all of sudden he gets mad
about their conversation their having.
He eats half of it or 20% of it.
You know what?
20% of that's mine.
Unbelievable.
And I found that, that was just hilarious.
Yeah, that got me.
I was like, okay, good chuckle there.
They're old friends.
They are. Yeah.
And I didn't doubt for one second that that woman
had been successful in the music industry,
through ups and downs
and she's still standing.
This film showed us that music is really is so powerful
not only in film for entertainment
but it keeps us connected to each other
to a moment in time
and through all generations.
Thanks everyone for watching today.
We've got more episodes coming your way
that we can't wait to share with you.
So, please like our page
and hit our subscribe button
and we'll see you next time
on "You Know That Scene".