BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Battle of Britain, Goldfinger, Force 10 from Navarone)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "The Third Man (1949). Carol Reed having discovered the zither had to fight a long and thank goodness battle to resist a bog standard orchestral accompaniment. With a single instrument, Anton Karas supplies the feel of Vienna, tension, suspense and a sense of grandeur."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "I cannot improve on Maurice Jaubert's "We do not go to the cinema to hear music. We require it to deepen and prolong in us the screen's visual impact."
S&S: What is the most effective sequence of music in your own films?: "Battle of Britain (1969). Sir William Walton's masterly ' Battle in the Air '."