Movie Music

I decided to do something a little different and post ten standout music tracks from some movies I like. These aren't my ten favorite movies but I do consider them all worth watching. If you haven't seen some of these and you don't care for the music well at least you have a movie to rent. These are all original songs and scores created for the film. I was going to give some details about the plot but I realized I'm not Eggbert and you can find that info on Imdb or any other site.

Le Mepris (Contempt), Directed by Jean-Luc Godard











I think this is one score that you might actually like more if you haven't recently seen the movie. It is repeated with a few variations too many times throughout the movie and at some inappropriate times when it seems overbearing. 'Theme de Camille' is really a great piece and after a few months since I've seen Contempt I can now appreciate it. IMDB


Georges Delerue - Theme de Camille

Pather Panchali, Directed by Satyajit Ray













Pather Panchali is often cited as the greatest Indian film of all time and it is one of my favorites as well. This is part one of The Apu Trilogy and I am lucky enough to have a great library where I got all three. I was probably most excited to find the theme of this film on a Ravi Shankar compilation. If you have seen this movie you will know there's a real strong emotional tie between the ending of the film and this track, which is actually an improvisation on the Pather Panchali theme. As far as I know this is the only piece of music from the film that has been released. IMDB


Ravi Shankar - Pather Panchali

Rosemary's Baby, Directed by Roman Polanski










The theme from Rosemary's Baby did well at capturing the intended haunted atmosphere of the film. The theme might well have been the spookiest thing about this film because I found most of it a bit comical. Despite that, the film is great fun and beautifully shot and directed. IMDB


Krzysztof Komeda - Main Title(feat.Mia Farrow)


Taxi Driver, Directed by Martin Scorcese










This is one of my favorite opening credit score's. Bernard Herrmann is also known for his scores for Hitchcock's greatest films and yes he did the shrieking music for Psycho. Everything about this movie is good. That's all I got. IMDB


Bernard Herrmann - Main Title

Le Samouraï, Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville











Like most of Melville's films, Le Samouraï combines slow, unconventional and artistic shots with a good old action/suspense story to create a really amazing cinematic experience. François de Roubaix adds to the suspense with his organ driven score. IMDB


François de Roubaix - Le Samouraï

Nights of Cabiria, Directed by Federico Fellini









I couldn't do this post without including a Nino Rota score or a film by Fellini. Rota has done the soundtrack for just about all of Fellini's films as well as The Godfather trilogy. This track comes from the dramatic ending of Nights of Cabiria which owes a lot of its greatness to this song. IMDB

Nino Rota - Ma la vita continua

The Last Temptaion of Christ, Directed by Martin Scorcese











This was the hardest film from the list to pick only one track from. Peter Gabriel's soundtrack works very well on its own and it is really unnecessary to see the film (but you really should anyways because it's a trip) to enjoy it. The soundtrack received wide release under the title Passion. This is another great ending track. IMDB


Peter Gabriel - It is accomplished


Hero, Directed by Yimou Zhang











This film has its flaws. It is full of beautiful visuals and choreography but light on story and depth. I found the music very moving despite the over dramatic acting on the screen. Still overall a good film if you aren't put off by its excesses. IMDB

Tan Dun - For the World

La Nuit Américaine(Day for Night), Directed by François Truffaut










I have a good feeling that this is Wes Anderson's favorite movie. There seems to be a few scenes that reference it in Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums, he even did a straight rip off of it in a credit card commercial. I know there is a ton of Anderson groupies out there that haven't seen this and that sir, is a shame. IMDB


Georges Delerue - Grand Choral


Pierrot Le Fou, Directed by Jean-Luc Godard













What I really wanted was to put up a song from Seven Samurai or Rashomon here but I couldn't find them. I settled for this album version of a song Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo sing while they take a stroll by the sea. This studio recorded version takes some of the life out of the song but it's still fun. This movie is weird. IMDB


Anna Karina - Ma ligne de Chance