While we still haven't quite sorted out how to get around the music bots for
a full fledged episode on film scores,
we're going to take a stab at the next closest thing.
From rap battles to sing alongs, to boom box blasts,
these are our picks for the ten best uses of music in movies of all time.
(Sound) The official term for
the kind of music we're looking at on this list is diegetic,
that which originates from inside the world of the story.
And while that usually excludes soundtracks,
sometimes films cleverly embed them in the scene itself.
There's a musician or a record player or a jukebox in the world that just so
happens to play exactly the right music to orchestrate what's about to come next.
Like how the post apocalyptic dictator has brought along a crazy dangling guitar
player for this exact purpose.
Or how the Shaun of the Dead jukebox magically seems to sync up perfectly to
every move that the story makes.
And while musicals are an entire study in, are they or aren't they diegetic,
we decided to set them aside from this list for a future installment.
But, other great examples that toe this line include the first heist in
Baby Driver, the alien opera singer in the Fifth Element.
The household jazz quartet from the Triplets of Bellville, and
this surreal drummer from Birdman.
But if there's one use of music that most perfectly scores a scene from within it,
it's gotta be this one from Hero.
(Music)
Where a typical non-diegetic soundtrack is essentially an external comment on
the action that's taking place.
The diegetic soundtrack is like a scene commenting on itself.
The music ceases to be the filmmaker's opinion about the world and
instead becomes an utterance by and of it.
And this scene takes that idea even further,
because not only is this old man scoring a fight,
he's scoring a fight that's actually taking place inside their heads.
And then to take it another step beyond that, this is all embedded an extra
narrative layer deeper within an untrue story being told to mislead the king.
So it's a made-up story about an imaginary fight set to in-universe music.
All of it simply a re-enactment and musicalization of Nameless's inner world.
(Sound) Of course on the other side of the coin from scene that scores itself
perfectly, is scene that ironically scores itself in exactly the opposite way from
what you would expect.
This is called contrapuntal scoring, where the film makers pick a soundtrack that's
particularly oppositional to what's happening in a scene.
It imbues the film with a sense of irony towards its subject matter.
There's an uncanniness between the story and how it's being told to us.
But when the contrapuntal score comes from within the world of the story,
it is no longer the perspective of the film that's weird and off.
It signals to us a perversion of tone inside the characters or
the world they inhabit.
Consider Reservoir Dogs' famous Stuck in the Middle With You.
Or American Psycho's Hip to beSquare, or Boogie Nights' Jessie's Girl, or
Blue Velvet's In Dreams.
Life of Brian plays it for
laughs while the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo plays it for terror.
But we think
none of them do it quite as well as Full Metal Jacket's Mickey Mouse March.
(Music)
Stanley Kubrick is kind of the master of the contrapuntal score.
He uses it in 2001: A Space Odyssey, in A Clockwork Orange, but
never quite as eerily as here.
Probably because it never hits quite as close to home.
2001 gives us the musical perversion of an imaginary computer, and
Clockwork shows us the musical sadism of an already hard to believe sadist.
But Full Metal Jacket's turn is something far more believable and sadly familiar.
This playful, innocent, child-like tune chanted in war-like cadence as soldiers
march through the burning wreckage of Vietnam.
Thoroughly blurs the line between boys and men, between human beings and
war machines.
And perfectly highlights the inhuman split that Stanley Kubrick thinks might occur in
the life of a soldier.
(Sound) Beyond tone,
music placement in a scene can also help us get to know a character.
And choosing music diegetically can often be a stronger choice than just
a soundtrack.
Because it's not just a comment on the character,
but a comment on the character by that character.
It's how they feel about themselves.
The best songs attached to characters include M's In the Hall of
the Mountain King, Guardian of the Galaxy's Come and Get Your Love,
Jessica Rabbit's Why Don't You Do Right, and Willy Wonka's Pure Imagination.
However, for our favorite pic of this ilk, we're very, very partial to the Clash at
Demonhead's performance of Black Sheep in Scott Pilgrim vs the World.
(Music)
>> That guy on bass- Yeah? >> That's Todd.
>> I know!
Yeah? >> You know?
Yeah!
No. >> Sure, we've met envy briefly before,
but this is really her first appearance in full storied form.
And is there a better imaginable way to introduce not only the heart-rending
ex-girlfriend, but also her new boyfriend slash ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend's
ex-boyfriend?
Metric's original song is awesome, but Brie Larson's cover,
while not necessarily better, is definitely the perfect thing here.
Combine that with one of the most cleverly staged and shot concert sequences that
somehow manages to actually use our pet peeve of split screen brilliantly and
you've got yourself some fans.
(Sound) Scott Pilgrim and
all enterprising singles at karaoke bars know more than most that diegetic
music can also be an extraordinary thing to bond over romantically.
There's something about music, especially when participating in it,
that really allows the emotions to come to the fore.
So on film that's Johnny and June flirting on stage over It Ain't Me Babe, or
lip syncing along to Love is Strange in Dirty Dancing.
Or Pulp Fiction twisting to You Never Can Tell.
It's composing a ukulele tune with a computer in Her.
Or Blue Valentine's Street Side Serenade, Before Sunrise's Listening Booth,
Before Sunset's Nina Simone's seduction, or Call Me by Your Name's Bach flirtation.
But our top pic for charm,
it's the pink haired karaoke scene from Lost in Translation.
(Music)
This scene is a pretty important lesson in how there really is no substitute for
real chemistry.
You cannot fake that kind of connection or that kind of fun.
And Johansson and Murray so beautifully capture the kind of bittersweet, push and
pull, will they, won't they, can't they dynamic in this room full of other people
where they're really only there with each other.
And the music provides not only the perfect conduit, but
also just enough sense of play to keep the distance safe.
The music isn't just an expression of feelings,
it's a performance of an expression of feelings.
It's a make believe opportunity for them to try the feelings on for
size without having to own them.
Like an emotional pink wig and
it allows the entire subtext of this scene to come brilliantly to life.
(Sound) But romance isn't the only kind of bonding that can happen to a tune,
shared music breaks emotional icebergs of all kinds.
From a car full of fools belting Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne's World to a group of
old friends who Ain't Too Proud To Beg in The Big Chill.
From a beautiful moment between man and
child in Grosse Pointe Blank to the climax of Under Pressure.
To our pick for number six, the reconnection of an entire band on their
tour bus to the irresistible charm of Elton John's Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous.
(Music)
This one here is a diegetic trick, appearing first as if it were soundtrack
before the gradual revelation that it is actually playing on the bus.
As if the melancholy tone of the film infects the story itself until
the story and storytelling are finally in alignment.
And that's what this scene is really about.
A gradual piece-wise alignment of a ragtag band of separate individuals into a unit.
To the tune of an unstoppable ear worm that the members literally cannot help but
connect over.
And even as the scene teases us with shots of Russel as the last and toughest
holdout, it builds itself to a perfect climax where he can't resist any longer.
And finally, at the peak of the brilliant chorus, rejoins the group in song.
(Sound) We want to take a brief stop halfway through our musical tour here to
look at another kind of movie music that doesn't quite demand a category of its own
but that wouldn't feel right to leave out.
Music playing for no real reason other than the fact that music is great.
And sometimes it's just nice to listen to it.
These are Life Aquatic's French Bowie covers, Tropic Thunder's Tom Cruise dance.
But if we're going to take a moment here to jam for
the sake of jamming, it's gotta be the literal
intermission accordion cover of Let My Baby Ride from Holy Motors.
(Music)
But okay, back to the numbers.
Next up, we're looking at all the times movie characters use music to express
their sense of celebration.
Some of the best come in the form of Jack Black's Let's Get It On in High Fidelity.
Marty McFly's Johnny Be Good in Back To The Future.
Ferris Bueller's Twist and Shout, 500 Days Of Summer's Dreams Coming True, and
Bridesmaid's Wilson Phillips sing along.
However if there's a moment of musical celebration we think can't be beat,
it's gotta be the Palace Ballroom performance of
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love by the Blues Brothers.
(Music) Surrounded by state troopers,
the Blues Brothers cannot stop that irrepressible charisma that makes them who
they are.
It's a victory lap in front of a sold-out crowd of the successful fundraiser
the brothers have spent all movie so far trying to pull off.
Of course, we probably could've picked most of the Blues Brothers' songs for
this track.
They're almost all a celebration of some kind.
That's kind of their relationship with music.
Two men on a mission from God imbued with the power of song.
We just like this one best.
(Applause) >> Emotional expression is pretty much
what music is best at, so there's no lack of scenes that make creative use of it.
Of course that emotion isn't always celebratory.
There's also grief in a Welsh Lullaby, remorse in Pippin's song,
childishness in Pretty Girl Rock, loneliness in Wise Up.
Regret in New York New York, and deep sorrow in Llorando.
But the one we just can't get out of heads came so very recently.
A desperate, terrified need for
comfort in I've Never Been To Me from last year's You Were Never Really Here.
(Music)
You Were Never Really Here is one of the best movies we've ever seen that will
absolutely wreck your entire day.
And we were originally turned onto it by one of our viewers here.
So a big thank you to Spencer for totally crushing our souls.
But amidst its many, many brilliant moments that put you deep inside the head
of a thoroughly wounded man.
Is this moment here that finds our hero lying on the floor with the man he's just
mortally wounded.
As they sing an absurdly contrapuntal song that never ends up feeling absurd,
only just very, very sad.
And we think that's because this counter point here between music and
scenario is less about reveling in the irony.
Than in acknowledging that the hardness of hate and the weakness of vulnerability
are not opposite ends of the spectrum but actually the closest of bed fellows.
And for a moment, this song lets us see right behind it.
(Sound) One step up from expression is outright communication,
where the message takes the form of music.
The classic example here is Say Anything's boombox blasting In Your Eyes through
the window, but there's so many more.
A message of patriotism in Casablanca's La Marseillaise, of revolution in V for
Vendetta's 1812 Overture.
Of control in Ex Machina's Get Down Saturday Night.
Of mother's presence in Que sera, sera from The Man Who Knew Too Much.
And of weaponized terror in the form of Ride of the Valkyries from Apocalypse Now.
But for our number three pick, our favorite use of music as a message goes to
the Marriage of Figaro from The Shawshank Redemption.
(Music)
Now this might not immediately seem like an obvious candidate for
music as a message.
At first glance we quickly lumped it in with the emotional crowd because it is
after all such an emotional moment and piece.
But if you break down its function in the scene, and
especially the reason why Andy is playing it, we think the message becomes clear.
Hope, a reminder to all the prisoners in Shawshank that there is still beauty and
freedom in the world, even if they are kept apart from it.
And a secondary message too, one embedded in the very act of playing,
that sometimes hope is worth rebelling for.
>> Dufresne, Dufresne, can you let me out?
(Sound) >> Narrowing in on the finish,
one of our favorite ways diegetic music can be used in film is as a motif.
In movies, this repetition allows pieces of music to quickly accumulate layer
upon layer of meaning.
Each one building upon the last until the piece takes on massive symbolic
significance.
This can build up in a grading repetition, as in Ground Hog Day's I Got You Babe.
Or get twisted from one thing into another,
as Ludwig Van's 9th Symphony from a Clockwork Orange.
It can become a driving force as with O' Brother Where Art Thou's Man of
Constant Sorrow.
Or be refracted in all manner of different incarnations as in The Long Goodbye.
Inside Llewyn Davis attaches immense meaning to Fare Thee Well and
then brings it to a crushing climax.
But for our favorite music as motif, we think that California Dreamin in
Chungking Express is about as good as it gets.
(Music)
>> It is so hard to explain here the power of California Dreamin in Wong Kar-Wai's
brilliant tale of loss and longing.
Because it really is an effort of build up and accumulation.
The song is used a total of eight times throughout the latter half of his and for
so many different reasons.
As a character introduction, an obstacle, a gag, an escape, a reminder,
eventually even an annoyance.
And then finally, beautifully, magically,
as the most touching accidental evidence of love you could imagine.
It really is one of the most spectacular long games in movie music history.
And finally in our top slot, we want to take a special look at those moments where
music becomes the conduit for the drama that's taking place.
Where the conflict of a scene is played out, not just to music, but through music.
Where all the emotional subtext and character motivation and wants and desires
and obstacles and twists and turns are being waged on the battlefield of song.
Battles of the bands, rap battles, guitar duels, but
there are other nuanced forms of it as well.
There's a much labored emotional awakening of the shadow self that plays out
on stage during Black Swan's Swan Lake performance.
There's a crying out against assailants from behind the walls of the fort
in the strings of a violin from The Alamo.
There's a late night duet sung between two people who very much intend to kill each
other in The Night of the Hunter.
There's an entire relationship that plays out in a final performance from
humiliation and betrayal to attack and ultimately partnership in Whiplash.
However, for our top pick, we gotta give it to Amadeus.
>> Start with the voices.
Bassist first, second beat of the first- >> Time, time?
>> Common time,
second beat of the first measure- >> What is so
fantastic about this clip is that Foreman doesn't shy away from the jargon and
vernacular of an actual composer.
And he doesn't waste time to try to explain it to us, either.
Mozart speaks with the real authority of a musical genius, and
instead of us getting caught up in the literal detail of it.
We instead get to put all of our energy into what's happening beneath it all.
A frenzy of creative energy on a deathbed.
A jealous rival trying to keep up, struggling to stay ahead,
failing, eventually giving into the master.
And, as a reward, getting a chance to participate in his mastery for
one small moment in his small career.
It is a rivalry over music, played out through music.
And out of it comes a spectacular alchemy of a masterpiece that blurs from
the diegetic to non-diegetic.
Which is why we think it's one of the best uses of music in movies of all time.
(Music)
So what do you think?
Disagree with any of our picks?
Did we leave out any of your favorite uses of music in film?
Feel musically blue-balled by any of the hundred songs we just played half of?
Check out the link in the description below to this episode's special Spotify
playlist, let us know how you feel in the comments below.
And be sure to subscribe for more CineFix movie lists.