Every year I look forward to the Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR when Andy Trudeau talks about the latest group of Oscar-nominated film scores. On the docket this year are the scores for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Defiance, Milk, Slumdog Millionaire, and Wall•E. Trudeau thinks Benjamin Button should be the winner, but my money is on Danny Elfman’s score for Milk. Listen to the track called “Harvey’s Theme” at the link above. That’s classic movie music. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to head down to the cinema right now. And it worked extraordinarily well with the movie. “Harvey’s Theme” has that broad, Copland-esque “Americana” feel. Set against the story of people who are still treated like less than citizens, that broadness lent the movie a sense of embrace and inclusion: you are one of us, too.
And, having seen quite a few movies this year, I have to say that if the Best Picture Oscar goes to the film that demonstrates the most skill in the art of movie-making, my pick for that award would also be Milk. As a straight guy with hard-to-define political views, a strong disdain for political “activism,” and a pretty low view of Sean Penn, I was surprised to find that the story of Harvey Milk as portrayed in the film was compelling, emotionally evocative, and technically brilliant—the way they wove historical footage into the scenes shot for the movie was pretty impressive.
Man, that’s tough.
I think the WALL•E soundtrack was fantastic, especially in the sense that it didn’t make itself aware to me while watching the film.
But I agree on Milk. It was much the same way.
It really is amazing how much a soundtrack can give or take away from a film. Sean Penn starred in Mystic River and I remember being antsy to get out of the theater because Clint Eastwood’s score ruined the movie for me. I couldn’t stop thinking about how terrible it was.