Lost Soundtracks

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Admin
Lost Soundtracks

Lost Soundtracks

One of the great ironies of the science of film is that certain sequences (and indeed entire films on occasion) can be made doubly effective when juxtaposed with conflicting peripheral elements, and an easy example of this is found in music. A film's musical score which on the surface seems totally inappropriate for a given scene or story can often serve to bring out aspects of the narrative which would otherwise go unnoticed, and which can positively effect a film in innumerable ways.

The Informant! uses this technique to exceedingly great effectiveness with its jazzy, bouncy, carefree score by Marvin Hamlisch, who has not scored a film since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces. For The Informant!, there are oodles of easy harmonica, blaring trumpets, bass guitar, tapping cymbals, whistling solos and grandly romantic piano interludes.

These conspire to resurrect memories of the long-lost, psychedelic big-band soundtrack of the 60s and 70s. This is at such odds with the straight-laced corporate environment of the 1990s displayed in Soderberg’s outrageous film that it works surprisingly brilliantly, becoming a revelation to the audience not of the narrative’s circumstances or overall story arc, but instead of the mind of the main character.

High-Spirited Jazz Score for The Informant!

Indeed, the story of The Informant! (based on an amazingly true series of events involving high-level corporate crime, espionage and deception) is well served by Hamlisch’s deliriously buoyant instrumentals, complemented by a decidedly retro title sequence and the practically irreverent attitude in which the story is presented.

Featuring a stylistic similarity to classic works by Henry Mancini, Burt Bachrach, and John Barry, the resultant James Bond-Meets-Mister Rogers-Meets-Sesame Street sound is a flamboyant delight and a breezy, outrageous, over-the-top musical treat.