BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Touching the Void)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "The sound track to Performance (1970) by Jack Nitzsche is my favourite. The line between what is "sound design" and what is "music" doesn't exist on this film. The soundtrack creates a sense of dread and depth without which the film would've run the risk of seeming silly and preposterous. Randy Newman's 'Gone Dead Train' and Jagger's 'Turner's Song' (apparently co-written with Donald Cammell) are just plain great songs - two of the best ever penned specifically for a movie."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "That's hard. In the cutting room I'm constantly amazed at the transformative power of music when combined with images. The effect of combining one with another is very rarely what you thought it would be. You see the images and hear the music differently when they are together. The purest moments of cinema are for me when music and image combine without dialogue or other interruptions."
S&S: What is the most effective sequence of music in your own films?: "Probably the most obvious: the use of 'Immigrant Song' (Led Zeppelin) in One Day in September (1999). It accompanies a montage of athletes competing. It brings out the sense of agony the athletes are feeling but loss their beauty. Without us having to say anything it communicates to the audience that there is some deep link between violence and sport."