This morning there was a Desert Island Discs repeat featuring the composer Debbie Wiseman. She writes for films and TV - scores and incidental music, etc.
I started thinking about the film 'Roma' that we watched last night and realised that there was no score or incidental music to it at all. It is all visual, and very good visuals as well.
Thinking further - and this relates to the Film Club post of a couple of days ago - I consciously realised that there are many non-mainstream films which do not have music. This is what makes them hard work for some people.
Debbie Wiseman was - in effect - saying that incidental music helps us to understand what is going on. We don't have to concentrate so hard. Think Spaghetti Westerns. Where would they be without Ennio Morriconi?
Bad 'Art' films are made even worse if they have no music. You get to the end of the film and wonder why you put so much effort into watching it.
Sometimes it is good to be told what to think about something. It can save mis-interpretation, but not in the case of '2001 - A Space Odyssey'.
What is the worst Art Film you have ever seen? For me it is 'The Ox' by Sven Nykvist. I can't even remember if it had any music. I walked out when they all began gagging on the rotten meat. I would like to over-dub it with the Benny Hill theme music.
I detest Ingmar Bergman.
ReplyDeleteUsed to have to sit through his tripe when I did my film degree
Funnily enough, Sven Nykvist was Ingmar Bergman's cameraman. If you detest Bergman you will want to seek out Nykvist and kill him.
DeleteI love Ingmar Bergman films and angst.
ReplyDeleteI quite like 'The Hour of the Wolf'. Can't be doing with needless angst though.
DeleteI can get that at home.
DeleteI am so fortunate; I remember close to nothing. Extraordinarily close!
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean you can watch all those films again with fresh eyes?
DeleteThe 1992 Spanish film, "The Quince Tree Sun". The first and (perhaps only?) film I've ever walked out of. I can't remember if it had a soundtrack but, as an art philistine, it was painfully like watching paint dry.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have seen that one.
DeleteShe chose a Beatles song with most of the words missing, which I thought strange.
ReplyDeleteSpanish?
Delete