Open Your Eyes

I watched Vanilla Sky around 3 or 4 years ago. I had come out dazed with its ideas and images, but after some thought, it turned into an empty shell. I was told that the original Open Your Eyes was a much greater movie, and now, I finally agree. I've forgotten the soundtrack for Vanilla Sky, but the music in Open Your Eyes was mesmerizing. It is this music that always gives a great movie the extra dimensions, and when I was younger, I would never really concentrate on it. It was just "background", and although I probably did react unconsciously, it was never anywhere near as important as the dialogue or the acting or the cinematography. That changed when I started watching movies with I.H., currently a musician studying in Paris, who would always make it a point to share the hidden story that was only found in music. Music has now become a conscious and effortful act when watching movies, and the experience has morphed into something on a much higher plane. Even the lack of music, as in No Man's Land, provides the details and a life not found in the film. In some movies, such as The Red Violin and The Legend of 1900 music is one of the essential characters, and in others, such Schindler's List, it has a much more subtle role, and without it the movie would be almost meaningless. Garden State is defined by the chosen soundtrack, Lord of the Rings is just another fairytale without the sounds of John Williams, and Catch Me if You Can shares the tale of the lone counterfeiter with the tunes of the lone saxaphone. The purpose of film music is to let you understand the story before you even know it, and can turn something which is potentially passive, into a uniquely enjoyable hour and a half.

posted by Lazarus, 7:59 AM