BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Member of Tindersticks)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "That's a very hard question, there are so many great soundtracks I love. But I suppose the one that really got me going was John Barry's The Ipcress File (1965). I'd grown up watching such films as this, so the music was familiar, but just listening to the music made me see something else, something that made me want to make music, music that could paint pictures in your mind without telling you what to think."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "I think music should be another character, as important as any actor. Bad music ruins a film for me."
S&S: Which film either has music that you wished you'd written or is one you would like to rescore and why?: "I'd love to have written the music to A Fistful of Dynamite! (1971) by Ennio Morricone, it just sounds like so much fun. I don't like to criticize, but if I had to change music in a film, it would be Betty Blue (1986). I love the film but find the music too much sometimes, not all of it, just moments."