The Best Music in Film

Jonny Trunk

(Musician who also runs Trunk Records. Has reissued several soundtracks including The Wicker Man and Dawn of the Dead)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?
"This is almost an impossible question for me to answer, as it seems to change on a daily basis. Last week it was Dumbo (1941) - Frank Churchill was a genius. The week before it was The Chameleon by Lasse Fernlof. At the weekend it was The Wicker Man (1973). Yesterday it was Swedish Fly Girls (1970). The one today is Los Jóvenes viejos by Sergio Mihanovich, simply because it's the most beautiful foreign filmic jazz I've heard; it's brilliantly simple, occasionally stark, wonderfully played and it has a tune on it called "Waltz in 16mm" which is a title I wished I'd thought of. It's also only the second recording ever made with Ruben Barbieri, before he was nicknamed "Gato". It took me years to find a copy, because it was only issued in Argentina once, in 1962. Worth the wait."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?
"Lots of ways of course, but it depends totally on the film. And I strongly believe that music is not always necessary and is in many cases over used. Take The Hill (1965) for example, a phenomenally powerful movie with no music at all, not even an opening or closing theme."
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 music from Kes (1969), especially the main theme. Or at least I'd have like to have been there when the session was recorded. A film I'd like to rescore - Dirty Dancing (1987), for my own perverse reasons."
Last Updated: 29 Sep 2008