BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Dark Blood, UTZ)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "One of my favourite soundtracks is Bernard Herrmann's music for Psycho , (1960, also for Vertigo, 1958). I think the score of Psycho is very successful because I feel that Herrmann catches in his music the psyche of Hitchcock, his fears and longings. And storywise, the music is attacking one's nervous system in a brilliant way, heightening the suspense but also highlighting the darkness of the human soul. The instrumentation (cello and violins) vibrates and screams beautifully throughout the film."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "I think film music should enhance the silent moments between the scenes accompanied by music. Each film should find its own musical style and needs. No rule 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 am very fond of Nicola Piovani's composition for UTZ. I think the music is melodic and beautiful, the choice of voices and instrumentation delightful, but foremost I think that Piovani expresses very profoundly both the tenderness of the Baron von Utz for his porcelain objects as well as his obsession for them."