7 of the Greatest Film Soundtracks
Film is a visual artform, but music adds something invaluable to the screen that can elevate an actor's performance, dialogue, and the film's narrative. Filmmakers often use music to emphasise tone, the characters’ feelings, action, and to invoke a sense of nostalgia. When we listen to a film's soundtrack, we might immediately associate it with the film we found it in, giving the listening experience far more depth.
Baby driver (2017)
Edgar Wright is known to elevate a film to pure fun with music, like the scene in Shaun of The Dead where the characters attack a zombie using pool sticks to the beat of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”. Fast forward 13 years, the magic still holds up in Egar Wright's Baby Driver. In the film, a gifted gateway driver who constantly has his MP3 player on hand partakes in a heist, syncing his music library to the many dangerous situations he finds himself in. This way the amazing soundtrack is immersed into the reality of the film, with Baby micromanaging his crew into robbing banks and post offices to the beat of the music. Some of the music is even edited to fit with the action. In the scene where one of the heistmen, Buddy, reloads his gun, the orchestra of the song “Hocus Pocus” by Focus is slowed down to match the movement of him doing so. It’s clear that Edgar Wright wanted music to be a big part of Baby Driver the second he conceived of the idea at 21 years old. The idea was actual;ly inspired by music itself - the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album Bellbottoms.
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The Bodyguard (1992)
The many negative reviews and ratings for this film don’t loomWa over its musical legacy. The soundtrack of the film was the 15th best selling album in the US, and Whitney Houstons rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” spent 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Houston gave the sound of the song a twist that was more with time, and a helpless sense of glamour and melodrama that complimented the style of the flick. “I’m Every Woman”, “Run To You”, and “Queen of the Night'' were also hits.
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Marie Antoinette (2006)
With period dramas always being a popular fad among cinema, director Sofia Coppola had to make her film about the last queen of France stand out. How did she do this? With a killer soundtrack. She did throw in some classical music here and there to get a sense of the time the film is set in, but most of the track consists of punk rock bands like The Cure and The Strokes. As well as having beautifully intricate visuals of 18th century France, the film’s soundtrack allows the audience to relate more with Marie Antoinette and emphasises her rebellious spirit.
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500 Days of Summer (2009)
One of the pleasures of watching 500 Days of Summer over another rom-com is its tasteful soundtrack. This should come as no surprise, seeing as director Marc Webb is an indie music video director. With songs like “Sweet Disposition” by Temper Trap to create a dreamy, romantic effect and the heartbreaking “Hero” by Regina Spektor the soundtrack emphasises the high’s and lows of the characters’ relationship. The importance of the soundtrack becomes apparent when “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” by The Smiths brings Tom and Summer together in the iconic elevator scene.
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Trainspotting (1996)
The love for the Trainspotting soundtrack sparked a release of a second one a year after the film's release. The soundtrack compliments the fluctuating tones of the film, which goes from funny and up-beat to horrifically depressing. With Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” playing over the opening where the characters run from the police, you already get the sense of the shameless, drug-addled characters and the comedic undertones of the film. In one scene, Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” plays as Renton overdoses. Despite its seemingly happy title, “Perfect Day” has a sense of hopelessness and regret in its vocals and instrumentals, making it a perfect fit to emphasise the false sense of happiness the characters get from heroin.
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Pulp Fiction (1994)
Arguably Quentin Tarantino’s most adored film, Pulp Fiction features a soundtrack that mixes classic Rock and Roll with Surf rock. Many of the film’s most iconic scenes are defined by the music, such as the scene where Mia Wallace and Vincent Vaga dance to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell”. As well as repopularising the song, the scene is referenced throughout pop culture. Another memorable musical scene is when Dusty Springfields “Son of a Preacher” plays over Vincent talking to Mia over the intercom, desperately trying to act cool after realising she can see him through a camera.
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A Star Is Born (2018)
Together with producers like Nick Monson, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga wrote and sang a tracklist full of soulful and chilling songs. With Bradley Cooper’s lack of experience in singing and Lady Gaga’s lack of experience in acting, A Star Is Born is a display of what real talent can create in film. Their incredible voices create a narrative within the soundtrack about their characters - which they both play brilliantly. “Shallow” blew up on the charts, and won an Oscar.
