BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(With Pete Woodhead, composed the music for Shaun of the Dead)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "My favourite soundtrack is Eraserhead (1976) by Alan R. Splet and David Lynch. Somehow, I heard the soundtrack on CD before the film. After hearing it, the sound of building sites, crying children, screaming trains, clanging radiators, all the sounds which one would normally try and ignore, became music. This is the only soundtrack which made it easier to live in this world."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "When the composer suppresses their ego enough to serve the film as a whole, rather than grandstanding simply to get on another job afterwards. When the composer acknowledges that what's best for the dancefloor or concert hall might not be best for film. When the composer works with the director in the same way the photographer and editor do."
S&S: Which film either has music that you wished you'd written or is one you would like to rescore and why?: "I wish I'd written the opening music to Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972) by Popol Vuh because then I'd know I reached the top of the mountain. I'd like to rescore 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) because however effective it is, the use of pre-existing music is a cop out. Actually, I feel quite grim having just typed that last sentence, but if artists keep harking back to the past/familiar, then art has no future."