Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016) – Review

Film music can make or break a film. Whether you are aware of it or not (I belong to the latter camp), it sets the tone for what you see. It can create tension, strengthen emotions and can even help making a movie a classic. If you hear the word Star Wars, Psycho or Jaws, you can easily sing the music that goes along with those films. But what has been the role of music over the years, who are the composers behind all that music and how do they work? These are all questions that are addressed in this documentary.

During the era of the silent film music already played an important role. Sometimes the films were accompanied by a fixed piece of music, but often it was left to an organ player, who sat in front of the screen, to take care of this. Music was played live and therefore had a big influence on the experience. As film evolved and sound was added, music was also added and for a long time it was written specifically for the films. In the 70s, in which people wanted to do things differently, however, more and more pop songs were used, and the role of composers also changed, who suddenly had less to do. The rise of the blockbusters, including those by Spielberg and Lucas however, meant a big comeback of film music and a time when John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman and many others over the years managed to make a name for themselves and wrote memorable pieces.

 Many of them also are interviewed (unfortunately John Williams is missing), just like several filmmakers and of course a lot of time is dedicated to music, in combination with film fragments, which makes it clear what its impact is. It makes Score: A Film Music Documentary a title that not only captivates fans of film music, but also the average movie viewer. You see the recording process, the musicians who can play the pieces that are presented to them unprepared and hear the end result. Occasionally you’d wish it would go into more detail, but if you have any interest in the subject, it is a documentary that should not be missed.