# Best marriage of music and visuals in a film. (spoilers ok) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424 "2005-08-03T14:50:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/1 "2005-08-03T14:50:32Z")
Fight Club has a beautiful sequence at the end where a slow-motion disaster takes place to the music of Pixies “Where is my Mind.” The first time I saw that movie, I literally got chills. The Crow uses a great combination with Brandon Lee running atop the rooftops to the music of “After the Flesh” by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. The remake of Dawn of the Dead used Johnny Cash singing “When the man comes around” over the opening credits, and I was oddly moved. So, what combinations of music and visuals have impressed you? ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/2 "2005-08-03T16:04:19Z")
I thought the use of _Layla_ in _Goodfellas_ was absolutely perfect. I’ve never particularly been a fan of the song, but that scene is now burned in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/3 "2005-08-03T16:07:57Z")
One other one I forgot. The _Sister Christian_ scene in _Boogie Nights_. When I saw that in the theater for the first time, I was absolutely transfixed. I was literally sweating with the tension. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/4 "2005-08-03T16:21:41Z")
The opening credits of _North by Northwest_, as scored by Bernard Hermann. Various bits of _The Twilight Zone_, especially when the cartoon music morphs into more sinister music. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/5 "2005-08-03T16:27:19Z")
Various bits of _Run Lola Run_, particularly the end of the first run-through. Also I thought the very end of _Magnolia_ was nice. If you count TV, The West Wing has several examples, like Noel, Two Cathedrals, and the one about the homeless Korean War veteran, the name of which I can’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/6 "2005-08-03T16:27:42Z")
The scene in **Fellowship of the Ring** , when Gandalf falls and the party emerges from the mines of Moria. Background music is predominant, and other sounds are muted – you can just imagine how the sounds suddenly become distant in the ears of Aragorn, for instance, as he watches the events with shock and disbelief. I love everything about the soundtrack to **Last of the Mohicans**. Particularly good use of the music in the last action scene where the main guys are chasing down and confronting Magua’s band of Huron. **Kill Bill** (both parts) has some great use of music in its scenes, throughout. One of my favorites is in **Miller’s Crossing** – the attempted hit on Leo, with “Danny Boy” playing loudly over the machine gun fire. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/7 "2005-08-03T16:41:06Z")
> [@Ass For A Hat](#): > > One other one I forgot. The _Sister Christian_ scene in _Boogie Nights_. When I saw that in the theater for the first time, I was absolutely transfixed. I was literally sweating with the tension. Is that the scene at the end? If it’s the scene I’m thinking of, (and I think it is) that was downright brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/8 "2005-08-03T16:45:43Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Is that the scene at the end? If it’s the scene I’m thinking of, (and I think it is) that was downright brilliant. Pretty close to the end, yeah. The scene with the firecrackers. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/9 "2005-08-03T16:46:02Z")
Let us also not forget the opening sequence in _Ed Wood_. The creepy horror music overlaid on the funky 50s bongos was a perfect match to the horror movie images. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/10 "2005-08-03T16:46:52Z")
The use of **}in a garda de’vida** (sp) in **Manhunter** , and the use of **Carmina Burana** in **Excalibur** are the two greatest use of musical score that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/11 "2005-08-03T16:51:11Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > The use of **}in a garda de’vida** (sp) in **Manhunter** , and the use of **Carmina Burana** in **Excalibur** are the two greatest use of musical score that I know of. If we’re talking about a non-original score, then the scene in _The US vs Larry Flint_ where the camera pans upstairs where Larry is watching a video of dead Althea bragging that she’ll never grow old–with the music by Mahler–is way powerful. Wow, that was an awkward sentence. And then there’s the scene in _2001_ where we see the ship and here the cello solo. So lonely… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/12 "2005-08-03T17:00:45Z")
[Koyaanisqatsi](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085809/) is what I thought of first. My first exposure to Philip Glass, and one of the most riveting examples of time-lapse photography since Disney’s _The Living Desert_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/13 "2005-08-03T17:09:33Z")
I dont’ think original scores should count because those are written explicitly to marry the music with the image. A film score isn’t worth its salt if it doesn’t do that. So, for the use of previously recorded music, I’d have to include:[ul] [_]The entire classical repertory in **2001: A Space Odyssey** , from J.Strauss to R.Strauss to Ligeti.[_]Nina Simone’s _Sinnerman_ for the final heist in **The Thomas Crown Affair** (Brosnan/Russo version)[_]Connie Stevens’ Sixteen Reasons and that beautiful Naomi Watts reaction shot in **Mulholland Dr.** [_]Boccherini’s _La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid_ over the final moments of **Master and Commander**.[_]Too many pop songs to itemize in Scorsese’s **Mean Streets** [_]The tremendously poignant use of Sinatra’s _It Was a Very Good Year_ in Spike Lee’s **Jungle Fever**.[_]The assorted Bach pieces in Pasolini’s **The Gospel According to St. Matthew**.[_]The brilliant sequence for Ravel’s _Bolero_ in **Allegro non Troppo**.[_]Aimee Mann’s Wise Up in **Magnolia** [_]The Platters’ _The Great Pretender_ in Fassbinder’s **The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant**.[_]The beautiful single closing shot, performing The Sun Whose Rays Are All Ablaze in **Topsy-Turvy**.[_]The entirety of the wonderful **Pennies from Heaven** , but particularly the title tune and _Love is Good for Anything that Ails You_.[_]Ray Charles’ What I Say in Bruce Conner’s unforgettable **Cosmic Ray**.[_]The _Il Trovatore_ excerpts in **A Night at the Opera**.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/14 "2005-08-03T17:11:56Z")
“Wise Up” in **Magnolia** “Hallelujah” in **Shrek** ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/15 "2005-08-03T17:14:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And then there’s the scene in _2001_ where we see the ship and here the cello solo. So lonely… This was the haunting Adagio from Khachaturian’s _Gayaneh Suite_–perhaps the best use of music in the film (despite my leaving Aram out of my previous post). And while we’re on _Gayaneh_, I’m obliged to mention the rollicking use of _Sabre Dance_ in Billy Wilder’s **One Two Three**. Oh, and the film was _The People vs. Larry Flynt_. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/16 "2005-08-03T17:38:24Z")
I just saw _Metropolis_ yesterday, and I thought the use of music throughout the movie was really good. My favorite though, was when the entire city is pretty much falling apart, and there’s a love song playing. It worked rather well. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/17 "2005-08-03T17:42:14Z")
The brief scene in \*\*Big Fish \*\* where Ed Bloom is scooting down the road in his big muscle car to The Allmann Brothers’ **Ramblin’ Man**. The end of \*\*Donnie Darko \*\* where the camera pans through scenes of the aftermath to Gary Jule’s version of Tears for Fears’ **Mad World**. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/18 "2005-08-03T17:44:24Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Oh, and the film was _The People vs. Larry Flynt_. Er, yeah, that was a good one, too. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/19 "2005-08-03T17:48:33Z")
\*\*Notting Hill \*\* - the Bill Withers’ “_Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone_” walk-through-the-year sequence. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424/20 "2005-08-03T18:11:21Z")
The at the end of “Love Actually”, the scene where people are meeting their loved ones at the airport, with the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”, completely made that movie for me. In “The Aviator”, I liked the way Scorcese used Bach’s “Toccatta and Fugue in D Minor” with the dogfight scenes from “Hell’s Angels”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-marriage-of-music-and-visuals-in-a-film-spoilers-ok/315424.md?page=2)