Music at the Movies: 2009

While home, I availed myself of the "dollar" theater ($2.50) to see The Soloist, a film I had been on the fence about way back when. While in Philadelphia, I decided to see Tetro, a film I can't really explain why I went to it (directorial starpower?).

But both of these rank really high on my film music side, if less high on my film side. Tetro's score is composed by none other than Oswaldo Golijov, and while the film's use of it isn't terribly inventive, the music is really quite marvelous on its own terms. Also, I admire the film's use of the Brahms first symphony, a work that always feels exhausting to listen to and is given a formidable presence, the operatic structures, and the use of dance (even though it looks fake and out-of-place in its final presentation). On the other hand, The Soloist is surprisingly good, tender and human without being sappy or formulaic, but what really grabbed me is how effective the film is at visualizing music. There's a synesthetic experience which goes on a little too long, but the poetry of the gliding cameras, the images and music somehow really works together in a way that is altogether rare, simple, and elegant. That's three hits for Joe Wright.