BFI | Sight & Sound | The Best Music in Film

The Best Music in Film

(12 Angry Men, Serpico)

S&S: What is your favourite film soundtrack music and why do you like it so much?: "The music for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II (1972, 1974). Aside from the brilliant casting of actors we fall in love with, nothing provided a source of identification with the characters more than the score. Music should always reflect something that is not present in the rest of the movie. Here, the score provided a heartfelt loss of innocence, a yearning for a simpler yet more desperate time for that family. It kept the family's unspoken wish for itself alive."
S&S: In what ways does music best enhance a film?: "By revealing something that is not dealt with in the rest of the movie. It should be treated as another leading characters."
S&S: What is the most effective sequence of music in your own films?: "The train departure in Murder on the Orient Express (1974). Richard Rodney Bennett's idea of a waltz was brilliant. It gave the train glamour and an almost feminine character."