After reading tons of reviews and sitting in on conversations between impassioned and slightly intoxicated critics who argued as to whether it was good or not, next week I finally get to see Inglourious Basterds. Not that I’m looking forward to it mind, not only because I don’t enjoy sitting in a cinema for so long that my arse turns to cement but mainly because since Kill Bill Vol 2, Quentin Tarantino’s films seem to be slowly getting worse. The fan-boy attitude and unwillingness to change his films that I loved in the beginning is working against him as it seems no one can put an end to the self-indulgence that is smothering his work.
However, there is one thing I’m looking forward to, something that never seems to lose its quality even if the overall film does. So almost immediately after receiving my invitation my mind wandered to the crucial question: what’s the soundtrack like?
Try to stay awake as I cast my mind back two years – I waited in the rain for what felt like days (real time: seven hours) outside Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus to be one of only 150 people allowed to partake in a Q& A, screenplay reading and autograph signing with QT, one of my favourite filmmakers. There’s only a few things that I remember from this event, one of them being his explanation as to why his soundtracks are so awesome.
“More or less the way my method works is you have got to find the opening credit sequence first. That starts it off for me. I find the personality of the piece through the music that is going to be in it. It is the rhythm of the film. Once I know I want to do something, then it is a simple matter of me diving into my record collection and finding the songs that give me the rhythm of my movie.”
Indeed. There are several filmmakers and composers that have a knack for perfectly melding the scene with the score, but as far as brilliant soundtracks go, no one does it better than QT. That fan event was done as he desperately tried to get the punters in for Death Proof, a film that bombed spectacularly in the US as the good idea didn’t translate to the screen. As this was in the early days of my writing career, I didn’t have the pull to get to a screening, so after seeing it at my local (that’s right, I PAID to see Death Proof) and being hugely disappointed by how tedious it was, I nevertheless couldn’t get the songs out of my head. I snapped that baby up the day it was released and it sits among all of my other QT soundtracks (apart from Kill Bill Vol. 2, which I’ll be lovingly ignoring), and each of them is as genius as the next…
Reservoir Dogs
Tarantino not only set the mould as a filmmaker with this classic heist (sort of) movie, he also showed how important the music is too. After a very interesting conversation, the suited, booted and colour coded men walk into the shot in slow motion to The George Baker Selection ‘Little Green Bag’. Cue a million rip offs and men attending stag dos arguing over who has to be Mr. Pink.
The opening credits are legendary but music continues to weave its way through the entire film. Tarantino chose comedian Steven Wright to be the DJ playing K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the Seventies, the most prominent choice of the ’70s tracks being Steelers Wheel’s ‘Stuck in the Middle With You’, which provided the backdrop for Mr Blonde’s unique interpretation of an ear examination.
Pulp Fiction
This Palme d’Dor winning tour de force is, according to many, Tarantino’s most inspired film, and much like its predecessor the opening credits follow a diner scene which practically slaps the viewer in the face. Again, no traditional film score was commissioned, with the film consisting of an eclectic mix of genres, each perfectly teamed with the scene and character.
Marsellus Wallace would only ever play something like Al Green in his bar, much like Jules Winnfield would undoubtedly swap Miserlou for some Kool and the Gang. The list is endless: Vincent Vega getting high to Bustin’ Surfboards; Mia Wallace OD’ing to a Neil Diamond cover; and winning the twist contest with the help of Chuck Berry. Greatest soundtrack ever? It’s possible.
Jackie Brown
Following up Pulp Fiction was going to be hard, and while most thought he failed others (including me) thought Jackie Brown was his most mature film that took a great Elmore Leonard novel and added a spin of blaxploitation with Pam Grier. Unsurprisingly the music followed the tone of the film and this soundtrack features a wondrous plethora of ’70s soul and funk that starts at the credits and follows throughout. It’s hard to choose a standout music moment since there are so many but using Randy Crawford’s Street Life (when Brown heads into the mall to double cross the cops and Ordell) and Bloodstone’s Natural High (when Max sees Brown for the first time) was a stroke of genius.
Kill Bill Vol 1.
Tarantino did a U-turn by commissioning someone to compose the majority of the music for this one, but considering it was RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan it made perfect sense.
It was this film that brought Tomoyasu Hotei’s ‘Battle Without Honor or Humanity’ to the masses, and it’s since been used in everything from Match of the Day to the opening and closing of Topshop. The use of Quincy Jones’ Ironside every time The Bride is about to open up a can of whoop ass walked the thin line between quality and comedy but my favourite moment is The Bride racing through Japan in a yellow and black Bruce Lee suit with a matching motorbike to the sounds of Al Hirt’s ‘Green Hornet Theme’.
Death Proof
It had to be one hell of a soundtrack to remove the stain of Death Proof from my mind, but it is so brilliant it passed that test with flying colours. The opening credits may have annoyingly continued Tarantino’s penchant for foot fetish inducing shots but Jack Nitzsche’s loud, growling ‘The Last Race’ has got to be one of the best songs to drive to. Again mixing everything from T-Rex to Joe Tex to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich showed a great range of musical knowledge, but the stand out was The Coasters’ ‘Down In Mexico’ which nicely distracted me from Vanessa Ferlito’s piss poor lapdance.
What does Inglourious Basterds have in store for my iPod? Who knows, but considering I’ve heard rumblings of David Bowie mingling with Billy Preston, the prospects looks good. I can’t think of any filmmaker with a stronger knack for creating brilliant soundtracks, can you?
