Have you heard music in your favorite movie?

Question

Choose a movie of your liking. Explain to me where you hear music throughout the movie. Choose a particular scene. How does this music make the scene you are referring to more important, more lively? Is it a song with lyrics or without? If the song has lyrics how do those lyrics relate to the movie? (ex. YOU CANNOT USE THIS - In The Lion King when they sing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" the song follows exactly what is going on in the movie through the love song and lyrics.)

Answer 1

In The Lion King (1994), the song "This Land."

In the film, it is split between a scene at the beginning and a scene just before the climax. However, on the soundtrack, it is one piece.

But the 2 scenes are actually connected by the music, allowing the film to come full circle. At the beginning, Mufasa is teaching Simba about his future, and toward the end, Rafiki is teaching Simba about the connection between the past and the present -- and the song IS that connection. And then, to end on such an inspiring choral climax... just, wow. These African language lyrics serve to remind Simba (and the audience) of his identity as he goes back to reclaim his birthright.

And of course, as a flautist, I admit it was the flute solos that ultimately endeared me to the piece.

Thanks for such a thoughtful question. I hope this helps!

Answer 2

In the classical realm, my three favorite composers are Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi.

"Sull Aria," a duet from Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro, is presented beautifully in the prison scene from The Shawshank Redemption. The wonderous voices completely enrapture Andy; he sacrifices his freedom to enjoy the music and shares it with his fellow inmates.

Two other movies that use two great Puccini's operas:

Moonstruck - Excerpts from his opera La Boheme

The Mirror Has Two Faces- Nessun Dorma - From his opera Turandot

Both selections highlight the power of love and the sense of euphoria.

One of my favorite movie themes is from Rocky: Gonna Fly Now. To me, that song celebrates individual accomplishment against all odds. When I earned my Ph.D. in Higher Education, I sang Gonna Fly Now with great exuberance.

Answer 3

"The Sting". Scott Joplin's ragtime score is amazing and is perfect backing for the various scenes.

Answer 4

I may not be able to answer about a particular movie, but nothing gets me more hyped than a good video game soundtrack. My favorite soundtrack is the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack. Before I ever played the games I listened to the music and I could already tell what type of adventure I was going to have. The music wan't boisterous and loud all the time. The story starts off on a quiet beach so the music is a soft piano, then a giant boss who is the epitome of darkness bursts out of the ocean. If the music didn't follow what was happening on screen I don't know if I would have been as excited, or ramped up as I was to fight this thing. The music did a total 180 and could almost leave you shell-shocked.

Answer 5

Interstellar is my absolute favorite movie with a phenomenal score. There is music for the vast majority of this. My absolute favorite scene (which many people don't talk about and is not included in the official soundtrack album) is the scene where the Endurance (their ship) crosses in front of Saturn. The scene is panned out so that 99% of the screen is showing the planet and the empty space around it, and if you pay attention, somewhere lost among the grandeur of Saturn, is a tiny floating speck going in front of it, the ship.

This is the only time in the entire score that all you hear is a lonesome piano playing very simple, high register chords drowned in reverb. It is so simple, yet so powerful. It encapsulates perfectly the loneliness and emptiness of space. It reminds us that we are simply meaningless specks floating in an apathetic universe and for the characters, it's also a reminder that they are millions of miles away from any civilization, that there is just a hunk of metal separating them from certain death.

Answer 6

My favorite scene is from "Miles Ahead" when Miles Davis is play Chopin in the basement with the reporter. It communicated the depression Miles was feeling about his dead wife, while not being obvious. It did not have lyrics. He stops playing and proceeds to hide from the party going upstairs with the reporter.