BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(Music videos for Radiohead's Pyramid song and The Rapture's House of Jealous Lovers, among others)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "It's got to be Ghostbusters (1984)! Partly due to nostalgia, I suppose (I was only nine at the time), but also because the whole cinema in Gerard's Cross was singing along to Ray Parker Jr. It gave me a thrilling sense of camaraderie that you don't often get in films. I was so disappointed when they didn't use the same song in Ghostbusters II (1989), and also because the sequel was shit."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "Music is a powerful tool in film making, it can add layers of emotion, or even change the impact of a sequence entirely, but it can be a short cut to emotion and can make directors lazy. An example of really inspired use of music is the climax of Rintarô's animated re-interpretation of the sci-fi classic Metropolis (2001). A huge doomsday device is exploding in mind boggling anime detail, whilst Ray Charles' version of 'I can't stop loving you' plays, transforming a catastrophic event into a thing of sombre beauty."
S&S: What is the most effective sequence of music in your own films?: "Being music video directors, we approach the issue the opposite way around, ie we make a story that we think suits the music. I can't decide on a single video of ours that I consider the most effective, it's a bit like being asked to choose your favourite child!"