HNC Photography, IFC - Coursework, Introduction to Film Culture Blog, Project 4 - Music maketh the movie?
Exercise 1.4
Music maketh the movie?
The score for Fistful of Dollars and its two equals are undoubted some of the of the most iconic music in cinema. They blend perfectly with the movies and drive the action without being overly intrusive to the viewing experience.
From my understanding, Morricone was commissioned the majority of the music for these was composed before the film was shot as the Sergio Leone wanted the must to so integral to the movie – and some scenes length were driven by the music length to ensure the music didn’t end prematurely. This leads to a great score which perhaps lifts what could be probably a mediocre film without it.
Yojimbo, in contrast, the heavy score I felt was intrusive to my viewing experience, and this was echoed by my flatmate who was not watching the film but working in separate room but comment that the music did not appear to fit the Japanese setting of the movie.
This does not say that the score does not complement the action, like Fistful of Dollars, the music builds your anticipation of the action – perhaps a maybe even a little too much. There is very much an overall feeling with Yojimbo of influence by the western genre and to me, that is very prevalent in the score.
Last Man Standing I have to say the score left me cold I did feel in added anything to the film – I didn’t notice it all. It did not build any tension nor did it drive the action.
Overall Last man standing was lacklustre, and the score is a major factor in that for me together with unbelievability of the main character. If there was a drama over heavy score from Yojimbo or the ironically haunting tones of Fistful of Dollars, then the movie may have been lifted somewhat and made its running time flow – whereas as it stands watching Last Man Standing is a lot like running in treacle.
Unfortunately I have been unable to compare the alternative soundtracks of Last Man Standing Elmer Bernsten and Ry Cooder after extensive searching i was unable track them down here in Hong Kong.