Movies and music have been tightly entwined since the beginnings of cinema. So it’s no simple feat to search the vast landscape of film soundtracks and identify ten landmarks. In doing so, I had to establish some ground rules.
I chose to exclude movie musicals, simply because they are their own breed of moviemaking. It just wouldn’t be fair to evaluate a movie specifically designed for music and visuals against one that was not. (But perhaps we’ll do a list of top ten musicals someday.)
I’m also ignoring soundtracks that are simply collections of songs—albums that are merely “inspired by the film,” though that eliminates significant soundtracks like The Graduate and Flashdance. While music is essential to such films with songs specifically written for them, it still seemed unfair to stack simple pop music next to original film scores.
This also explains the absence of an obvious choice like 2001: A Space Odyssey. Alex North’s original score for that film was nixed by Stanley Kubrick in favor of using 20th century compositions by established composers. The same logic applies to movies like Amadeus and Fantasia—both brilliant films that rely on music, but still unoriginal.
With all that in mind, here are ten original film scores that have left their mark on the history of cinema.
(MSN) Protestant leaders in Bolivia once welcomed how President Evo Morales reduced religious discrimination by severing the Andean government's longstanding ties with Roman Catholicism. However, now they fear that pre-Colombian animism is replacing Catholicism as the official state religion.
Church leaders are trying to revoke a new law they say aims to "impose contrary beliefs" and "denies us the right to be a church."
The National Association of Evangelicals of Bolivia (ANDEB) will file suit before the Plurinational Legislative Assembly demanding that Law 351 be revoked as unconstitutional; Christian leaders argue its re-registration requirements restrict the "rights and religious freedoms of churches."
The law stipulates a standardized administrative structure for all "religious organizations" that church groups must adopt.
"This would force churches to betray their true ecclesiastical traditions," Ruth Montaño, legal advisor and former board member of ANDEB told Morning Star News (MSN). "The measure deprives them of any autonomy to follow their original faith convictions."
Churches failing to complete the re-registration within a two-year period would lose their legal right to exist. The ANDEB suit charges that Law 351 aims to "control" churches and "impose contrary beliefs" upon the Christian faith and "denies us the right to be a church."
ANDEB organized protest marches by an estimated 20,000 people on Aug. 17 in five cities throughout the country to state their opposition to the policies of President Evo Morales's administration.
At the heart of the demonstrations was opposition to Law 351 for Granting of Juridical Personality to Churches and Religious Groups, passed in March. The statute requires all churches and not-for-profit organizations to re-register their legal charters with the government. This involves supplying detailed data on membership, financial activity and organizational leadership.
"They want to control the activities of the evangelical churches," Agustín Aguilera, president of ANDEB, told the Santa Cruz newspaper El Deber. "Article 15 (of the law) would force all religious organizations to carry out our activities within the parameters of the 'horizon of good living,' which is based on the [ethnic] Aymara worldview. This is an imposition of a cultural and spiritual worldview totally foreign to ours."
[Editor's note: Article 15 says the practices of registered religious organizations must advance the Aymara concept of "living well." The Spanish text reads: "Las organizaciones religiosas y espirituales son el conjunto de personas naturales, nacionales y/o extranjeras que realizan prácticas de culto y/o creencias para el desarrollo espiritual y/o religiosas en el horizonte del Vivir Bien, cuya finalidad no persigue lucro."]
President Morales identifies himself ethnically as Aymara, although he also claims to be a "grassroots Catholic." Aymara-speakers form the second largest indigenous group in Bolivia, after Quechuas.
Government officials are not granting legal status to newly formed evangelical churches, pending approval of regulations being formulated by the Registry Office of Worship, according to ANDEB leaders. The proposed statutes violate the constitution in terms similar to those of Law 351, they say.
Protestant leaders assert that, taken together, the new measures grant the government regulatory power over the internal affairs of churches to the point of defining what is and is not a church.
Ironically, Morales assumed office in 2006 with promises of greater religious freedom. The first indigenous Andean to be democratically elected president of Bolivia, he abolished the historic domination of the Roman Catholic Church over religious affairs.
The constitution of February 2009 established a "secular state" designed to be neutral in matters of faith and conscience. The country's Protestant Christian population, which had long sought church and state separation, initially welcomed the new political order. They assumed a secular state meant the end of religious discrimination.
Protestant leaders now fear, however, that pre-Colombian animism is replacing Roman Catholicism as the official state religion. Morales's administration routinely invites amautas (folk doctors) to bless government ceremonies, instead of Roman Catholic priests as per traditional protocol.
At Morales's invitation, ANDEB leaders have been working since 2010 to formulate a law to guarantee freedom of religion. They believe the legislation is needed to ensure that constitutional guarantees be respected.
Their effort so far has gone unrewarded. Despite his repeated public statements that freedom of worship is a priority, Morales has yet to follow through on his promise to introduce the religious liberty legislation to parliament.
Nor has he responded to a letter ANDEB officials presented him last year asking for an audience to discuss the religious liberty bill. Instead, Morales signed the restrictive Law 351 over evangelical objections.
"Along with the suit to revoke Law 351, ANDEB attorneys plan to introduce the Law for Religious Liberty to the Plurinational Legislative Assembly," Montaño said. "And we expect a positive response from congressional members."
At the same time, ANDEB is initiating a national petition campaign and consultations with parliamentary representatives in every department (state) of the country, she said.
"Should all else fail, we plan to file an 'abstract of unconstitutionality' against Law 351 before the Constitutional Tribune in order to protect our rights," Montaño said.
As in most South American countries, Protestant worship was banned in Bolivia until about 100 years ago. Today evangelical Christians represent 16 percent of the country's population of 10 million, according to Operation World.
(Other notable works: The Silence of the Lambs, Gangs of New York)
Why is it that science fiction and fantasy often inspires the greatest film scores? Probably because they often offer a broad range of emotion—adventure, romance, thrills, mystery, as well as the distinction between good and evil—resulting in a more diverse musical palette. Shore’s score may not initially grab the ear in the same way as John Williams, but the Wagnerian musical motifs become more familiar after more than ten hours of film. The four years spent writing this thing has clearly paid off, resulting in a recent Academy Award for Return of the King and putting Shore on the A-list of Hollywood composers for creating one of the great epic scores of all time.
Courtesy of Kilobug/Wikimedia
(Other notable works: Jaws, Schindler’s List, Harry Potter)
Pursued by a horde of warrior Hovitos in Peru, our hero leaps to a vine and swings into the river where his escape plane is waiting. If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones. And if it has theme music, it’s got to be that instantly recognizable “Raider’s March” that you most likely first heard in the scene described above. Easily one of Williams’ most beloved film scores, Raiders epitomizes excitement, romance, humor, and awe. The prolific composer would continue to write admirable scores for the Indiana Jones sequels, but even they weren’t as sweeping and memorable as this.
Update (Sept. 20): Maaloula remains "the first such attack on a notable Christian community since the start of the uprising," but local Christians are "casting doubt on the jihadist threat," reports the BBC.
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Update (Sept. 10): The New York Timesassesses the "public relations problem" that Maaloula presents Syrian rebels:
Their incursion into the town, led by extremist Islamists, reinforces the worst fears of Syrian Christians and could bolster President Bashar al-Assad's claims that he is the Christians' protector. It may also complicate President Obama's task as he struggles to convince Americans that a military strike against Mr. Assad will not strengthen Islamic extremists.
Meanwhile, The Economistnotes "why the ravaging of an Aramaic-speaking village is a cultural tragedy as well as a human one."
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One of the few places in the world where the language of Jesus is still spoken has become the latest focal point of Syria's ongoing civil war.
The historic pilgrimage destination of Maaloula, a Christian mountain village and UNESCO site located about 40 miles north of Damascus, has exchanged hands three times in six days as Syrian forces and rebels battle to control a key road leading to Homs.
Despite assurances that Christian targets would be spared damage, rebels destroyed crosses on one of Maaloula's famous monasteries, causing a local priest to label the attack as a "declaration of war against the Christian community." Some residents claim rebels have threatened Christians with death if they do not convert to Islam, reports the Associated Press.
Maaloula gained attention in 2008 as one of the world's few cities where Aramaic is still the primary language. Even many Muslims living in Maaloula speak it. A government-supported program to revive and preserve Aramaic began in 2007 so that elders of Maaloula could continue to teach the language to their children.
Once a pilgrimage site for both Christians and Muslims, the town of about 3,000 is now largely deserted as many locals have fled the fighting to find refuge in Damascus.
Other efforts to revive the ancient Semitic language spoken by Jesus include research by linguists to document and preserve Aramaic, as well as Christians in Israel campaigning for its revival.
(Other notable works: Out of Africa, Her Majesty’s Secret Service, From Russia With Love)
It’s not possible to cite a single film score that sums up this composer’s contributions to cinema over the last forty years. He’s best known as the man responsible for scoring the vast majority of the James Bond movies, beginning with Dr. No in 1962-he can at least claim to have arranged the classic Bond theme, but whether or not he actually wrote it is one of the great mysteries of movie history. With an amazing resumé of acclaimed films to his credit, most single out his Oscar-winning work for 1984’s Out of Africa. But I’ve always been partial to his beautiful score for Dances With Wolves (for which the Academy also honored him). As with all his movies, including the Bond flicks, Barry again demonstrates why he’s one of the best at sweeping drama and action, perfectly capturing the Old West’s 19th century Romanticism.
Update (Sept. 20): Maaloula remains "the first such attack on a notable Christian community since the start of the uprising," but local Christians are "casting doubt on the jihadist threat," reports the BBC.
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Update (Sept. 10): The New York Timesassesses the "public relations problem" that Maaloula presents Syrian rebels:
Their incursion into the town, led by extremist Islamists, reinforces the worst fears of Syrian Christians and could bolster President Bashar al-Assad's claims that he is the Christians' protector. It may also complicate President Obama's task as he struggles to convince Americans that a military strike against Mr. Assad will not strengthen Islamic extremists.
Meanwhile, The Economistnotes "why the ravaging of an Aramaic-speaking village is a cultural tragedy as well as a human one."
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One of the few places in the world where the language of Jesus is still spoken has become the latest focal point of Syria's ongoing civil war.
The historic pilgrimage destination of Maaloula, a Christian mountain village and UNESCO site located about 40 miles north of Damascus, has exchanged hands three times in six days as Syrian forces and rebels battle to control a key road leading to Homs.
Despite assurances that Christian targets would be spared damage, rebels destroyed crosses on one of Maaloula's famous monasteries, causing a local priest to label the attack as a "declaration of war against the Christian community." Some residents claim rebels have threatened Christians with death if they do not convert to Islam, reports the Associated Press.
Maaloula gained attention in 2008 as one of the world's few cities where Aramaic is still the primary language. Even many Muslims living in Maaloula speak it. A government-supported program to revive and preserve Aramaic began in 2007 so that elders of Maaloula could continue to teach the language to their children.
Once a pilgrimage site for both Christians and Muslims, the town of about 3,000 is now largely deserted as many locals have fled the fighting to find refuge in Damascus.
Other efforts to revive the ancient Semitic language spoken by Jesus include research by linguists to document and preserve Aramaic, as well as Christians in Israel campaigning for its revival.
(Other notable works: Charade, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Great Race)
A key component to the success of Blake Edwards in the ’50s and ’60s is this legendary composer. You might recall his theme from television’s “Peter Gunn” or his Oscar-winning work in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (including the standard “Moon River”). But Mancini will always be best remembered for the jazzy theme to this classic comedy caper. That, along with his often overlooked score to The Pink Panther, strikes a splendid balance between slapstick and mystery, which is exactly what you want to represent the bumbling adventures of Inspector Clouseau. More so than most composers, Mancini’s music is perfectly matched for the films, yet are able to stand apart on their own.
Courtesy of Heretiq/Wikimedia
(Other notable works: Patton, Planet of the Apes, The Russia House)
Popular for its time, many have complained about Star Trek: The Motion Picture in hindsight, saying it failed to deliver on the thrills and warmth of the original TV series, instead favoring overlong special effects shots. Perhaps, but the combination of flowing sci-fi visuals with Jerry Goldsmith’s underrated score captured many of the same feelings of wonder inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey—the film even begins with an overture like that in classic cinema. Some of the music appropriately has a naval-like quality, which may be why composer James Horner ran with that idea to great success for the next two films in the series. Goldsmith’s combination of atonal atmospherics and sweeping orchestrations would go on to inspire a “next generation” of sci-fi composers.
Editor's Note: We can't all make it to the Toronto International Film Festival (which is too bad, since it's where some of the best films of the next year will be shown). But CT has the next best thing: daily updates during the Festival from our critic Ken Morefield. Stay tuned for the next week for capsule reviews and reflections on some of the world's most important movies.
Devil's Knot, directed by Atom Egoyan Night Moves, directed by Kelly Reichardt The Dark Matter of Love, directed by Sarah McCarthy
On Monday at TIFF, two high-profile directors presented films that left me curious after watching them and confused after listening to the directors discuss them.
Devil's Knot, Atom Egoyan's highly anticipated chronicle of the West Memphis Three, has a lot of ground to cover. It wants to summarize for those who have never seen the Paradise Lost documentary, present a small town in the grip of satanic panic, give a psychological portrait of a grieving mother, and champion the idealism of an investigator who stands up for due process while he thinks the accused are still guilty.
Egoyan stated in the post-screening discussion that the film was about "living with doubt," but the film doesn't really have any. It concludes with the most sympathetic character stating what he "knows in his heart" and a typed postscript informing the audience the trio of convicted murders were eventually released by the state of Arkansas and that DNA evidence pointed to another individual.
Strong performances from Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth keep the film afloat. But when one character is baptized late in the film and the minister whispers to her that God will never give her a larger load than she can carry, it is hard to know whether Egoyan is painting her faith sympathetically or mocking the notion of organized religion at all. Similarly, after showing "experts" risibly tying occult murder to heavy metal music, the film uses that very music during a perp walk, suggesting that the crowd's hatred towards and scapegoating of the boys is an evil best symbolized by . . . heavy metal music.
Kelly Reichardt tells a simpler tale in Night Moves and yet the reticence of her main character, played by Jesse Eisenberg (also at the festival in The Double), means that the emotions of the would-be ecoterrorist remain a matter of conjecture. Reichardt claimed the film was, to her, a character study rather than a political or ideological argument, but she declined to discuss the character's fate, mentioning twice that she was being recorded and apparently concerned that plot spoilers would ensue.
That didn't stop Eisenberg from fleshing out his own beliefs about his character's back story and the motivations that his director claimed little interest in. Reichardt also said she was interested in breaking down the plot to blow up a dam.
It is certainly fine to have a director more interested in "how" and an actor who is at least willing to talk about "why," but the cryptic driblets from the Q&A left the impression that film might have benefitted from more story development before production. It's a Reichardt film, so it is visually interesting and filled with great performances. It lacks the emotional payoff of Wendy and Lucy, however—not just because these characters do unsympathetic things, but also because they hold us at arm's length while doing them.
The most complex film of the day was actually Sarah McCarthy's The Dark Matter of Love, a documentary about a family undergoing an attachment therapy program as they adopt three Russian orphans. It sometimes feels as though our culture's relationship to science, particularly the social sciences, wavers between distrust and disgust.
Given that, and given what seemed like an extra helping of naïve idealism from the adopting family to start, I feared at first the film would be a case study in disaster. Dad tries to rename the boys, apparently unaware that his choice doesn't translate well in the Russian language. Mom and Dad appear oblivious to the stresses their biological daughter is experiencing. But gradually and painfully, they make baby steps, because the family is willing to be humble, ask for help, and change their own behaviors rather than simply trying to reshape that of others.
A major question in The Dark Matter of Love is whether or not love can be learned. Conventional wisdom usually says "no," but newsreel footage reminds us how many of our cherished assumptions in the past proved to be just that: assumptions. The film suggests that human brains are more flexible and adaptive than those of other animals, and that while the lack of early imprinting may cause serious difficulties, it may not be insurmountable.
Around the seams of that question are age-old debates about nature, nurture, fate, and free will. Perhaps we can't learn to love; we can only learn to love better. Would that we would all try this hard, availing ourselves of every resource at our disposal.
Kenneth R. Morefield is an Associate Professor of English at Campbell University. He is the editor of Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volumes I & II, and the founder of1More Film Blog.
(Other notable works: Dr. Zhivago, A Passage to India, Dead Poets Society)
Hollywood has had its fair sure of grand epics over the last hundred years. But not many can rank with Sir David Lean’s cinematic masterpiece, which has the orchestral score to match its scale. Impressively dramatic in scope, blending British nationalism and elegance with Arabic mystery and majesty, this is the score most composers aspire to when they write for a period epic. Especially memorable is the entire crossing the desert sequence, offering a dynamic range of tension and release. Interestingly enough, Lawrence of Arabia, one of Jarre’s earliest works, remains the pinnacle of his 50-year career.
Editor's Note: We can't all make it to the Toronto International Film Festival (which is too bad, since it's where some of the best films of the next year will be shown). But CT has the next best thing: daily updates during the Festival from our critic Ken Morefield. Stay tuned for the next week for capsule reviews and reflections on some of the world's most important movies.
Devil's Knot, directed by Atom Egoyan Night Moves, directed by Kelly Reichardt The Dark Matter of Love, directed by Sarah McCarthy
On Monday at TIFF, two high-profile directors presented films that left me curious after watching them and confused after listening to the directors discuss them.
Devil's Knot, Atom Egoyan's highly anticipated chronicle of the West Memphis Three, has a lot of ground to cover. It wants to summarize for those who have never seen the Paradise Lost documentary, present a small town in the grip of satanic panic, give a psychological portrait of a grieving mother, and champion the idealism of an investigator who stands up for due process while he thinks the accused are still guilty.
Egoyan stated in the post-screening discussion that the film was about "living with doubt," but the film doesn't really have any. It concludes with the most sympathetic character stating what he "knows in his heart" and a typed postscript informing the audience the trio of convicted murders were eventually released by the state of Arkansas and that DNA evidence pointed to another individual.
Strong performances from Reese Witherspoon and Colin Firth keep the film afloat. But when one character is baptized late in the film and the minister whispers to her that God will never give her a larger load than she can carry, it is hard to know whether Egoyan is painting her faith sympathetically or mocking the notion of organized religion at all. Similarly, after showing "experts" risibly tying occult murder to heavy metal music, the film uses that very music during a perp walk, suggesting that the crowd's hatred towards and scapegoating of the boys is an evil best symbolized by . . . heavy metal music.
Kelly Reichardt tells a simpler tale in Night Moves and yet the reticence of her main character, played by Jesse Eisenberg (also at the festival in The Double), means that the emotions of the would-be ecoterrorist remain a matter of conjecture. Reichardt claimed the film was, to her, a character study rather than a political or ideological argument, but she declined to discuss the character's fate, mentioning twice that she was being recorded and apparently concerned that plot spoilers would ensue.
That didn't stop Eisenberg from fleshing out his own beliefs about his character's back story and the motivations that his director claimed little interest in. Reichardt also said she was interested in breaking down the plot to blow up a dam.
It is certainly fine to have a director more interested in "how" and an actor who is at least willing to talk about "why," but the cryptic driblets from the Q&A left the impression that film might have benefitted from more story development before production. It's a Reichardt film, so it is visually interesting and filled with great performances. It lacks the emotional payoff of Wendy and Lucy, however—not just because these characters do unsympathetic things, but also because they hold us at arm's length while doing them.
The most complex film of the day was actually Sarah McCarthy's The Dark Matter of Love, a documentary about a family undergoing an attachment therapy program as they adopt three Russian orphans. It sometimes feels as though our culture's relationship to science, particularly the social sciences, wavers between distrust and disgust.
Given that, and given what seemed like an extra helping of naïve idealism from the adopting family to start, I feared at first the film would be a case study in disaster. Dad tries to rename the boys, apparently unaware that his choice doesn't translate well in the Russian language. Mom and Dad appear oblivious to the stresses their biological daughter is experiencing. But gradually and painfully, they make baby steps, because the family is willing to be humble, ask for help, and change their own behaviors rather than simply trying to reshape that of others.
A major question in The Dark Matter of Love is whether or not love can be learned. Conventional wisdom usually says "no," but newsreel footage reminds us how many of our cherished assumptions in the past proved to be just that: assumptions. The film suggests that human brains are more flexible and adaptive than those of other animals, and that while the lack of early imprinting may cause serious difficulties, it may not be insurmountable.
Around the seams of that question are age-old debates about nature, nurture, fate, and free will. Perhaps we can't learn to love; we can only learn to love better. Would that we would all try this hard, availing ourselves of every resource at our disposal.
Kenneth R. Morefield is an Associate Professor of English at Campbell University. He is the editor of Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volumes I & II, and the founder of1More Film Blog.
(Other notable works: The Mission, The Untouchables, Once Upon a Time in the West)
Talk about redefining film scores in the 20th century! Morricone’s breakthrough work for Sergio Leone’s epic spaghetti Western blended musical genres more than any other before it-classic old western themes flavored with Mexicana, performed on electric guitars with Native American cries and whistling. It seems absurd on paper, and yet it was crazy and cool enough to work, single-handedly defining a genre and effortlessly evoking the film’s visuals. Watch Robert Rodriguez’s Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and there’s simply no question where he got his musical inspiration.
Maybach Film Productions
(Other notable works: Vertigo, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
Herrmann’s longtime partnership with the legendary Alfred Hitchcock would end up influencing suspense, thriller, and horror films for decades to come—and few have lived up to it. None are more unmistakable and unforgettable than this classic shocker, which marvelously matches the tension and dread of a scene with the drama on screen. The audience is thus played along like one of the string instruments from the infamous shower sequence. Some scores simply enhance a movie viewing experience—here’s one that makes you live the experience. Psycho just wouldn’t be the same without it.
Update (Sept. 17): The Independentreports from a British enclave of the Twelve Tribes, still in shock after an undercover journalist's secret videotaping of children being disciplined led police to seize 40 youths from a German enclave.
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Last week, German officials raided two Christian communities and put 40 children in protective custody amid allegations of child abuse.
The Twelve Tribes believes in spanking children. According to the sect's website: "When they are disobedient or intentionally hurtful to others we spank them with a small reed-like rod, which only inflicts pain and not damage. Desiring to be good parents, we do not hit our children in anger, nor with our hand or fist."
More than 100 officers participated in the raid, which parents did not resist, reported the BBC. The group was previously penalized for refusing to send children to German public schools over sex education concerns, but this is the first time it has faced penalties for alleged child abuse. (A similar raid took place in a Twelve Tribes community in Vermont in the 1980s.)
Meanwhile, in a town three hours away, German officials raided the home of a Christian homeschooling family and took their four children into custody. The Wunderlich family's situation is similar to the Romeike family, which is fighting for religious asylum in the United States. (CT has noted previous cases as well.)
(Other notable works: Casablanca, King Kong, Lost Horizon)
Steiner was a true pioneer in the earliest days of movie scoring, from the time they were first adding sound to film. The music behind this romantic epic remains the great-granddaddy of cinema soundtracks, establishing the way movies and music would be intertwined to this day. It offers an array of dramatic cues, battle music, comic interludes, and of course, love themes—is there anyone who wouldn’t recognize “Tara’s Theme” if they heard it? What’s most impressive is that such a strong film score was generated so early on in cinematic history; it’s held up surprisingly well for close to 70 years now. There just aren’t many others that have had as strong an impact as this, except perhaps …
Update (Sept. 17): The Independentreports from a British enclave of the Twelve Tribes, still in shock after an undercover journalist's secret videotaping of children being disciplined led police to seize 40 youths from a German enclave.
—–
Last week, German officials raided two Christian communities and put 40 children in protective custody amid allegations of child abuse.
The Twelve Tribes believes in spanking children. According to the sect's website: "When they are disobedient or intentionally hurtful to others we spank them with a small reed-like rod, which only inflicts pain and not damage. Desiring to be good parents, we do not hit our children in anger, nor with our hand or fist."
More than 100 officers participated in the raid, which parents did not resist, reported the BBC. The group was previously penalized for refusing to send children to German public schools over sex education concerns, but this is the first time it has faced penalties for alleged child abuse. (A similar raid took place in a Twelve Tribes community in Vermont in the 1980s.)
Meanwhile, in a town three hours away, German officials raided the home of a Christian homeschooling family and took their four children into custody. The Wunderlich family's situation is similar to the Romeike family, which is fighting for religious asylum in the United States. (CT has noted previous cases as well.)
(Other notable works: Superman, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind)
John Williams has been so consistently effective and influential on modern cinema over the last 30 years, he had to be listed twice. For that matter, we could’ve just done a list of Williams scores, but that’d be overkill. While some of his other works may have been more artful or dramatic, none have made a more permanent mark on culture than his work for the original Star Wars saga. There’s nothing quite as exhilarating or awe-inspiring as that opening fanfare during each film’s prologue, and the sweeping operatic grandeur of the music rarely lets up as the movie unfolds. Williams made particularly effective use of Wagenerian leitmotifs in the original trilogy (episodes 4 thru 6). You can listen to the soundtracks with your eyes closed and know exactly who or what the music is referring to. That’s not just composition, that’s inspired storytelling.
Russ Breimeier, one of our film critics, is also the chief music critic for our sister channel, Christian Music Today.
(MSN) Protestant leaders in Bolivia once welcomed how President Evo Morales reduced religious discrimination by severing the Andean government's longstanding ties with Roman Catholicism. However, now they fear that pre-Colombian animism is replacing Catholicism as the official state religion.
Courtesy of Kilobug/Wikimedia
Courtesy of Heretiq/Wikimedia
Maybach Film Productions
