The best film composing isnt about writing good music to good scenes, but about writing music that elevates what otherwise would be nothing all that special. This is one of my favorite examples of this. (I wish youtube had a music-only version of the scene.) RETURN OF THE JEDI is, simply, not a very good movie. But at the climax, Darth Vader finally finds a way to get Luke to follow his violent impulses by saying about his sister, If you will not turn to the dark side, perhaps SHE will. What Williams did with what follows is just masterful. He isnt scoring the FIGHT, or even the underlying emotional conflict. What hes doing is actually stepping BACK from it, and scoring the climax of the three movies, which is, finally, trying to be a tragedy. The essence of tragedy, of course, is that due to the nature of the characters, this is the only way things could have worked out. Williams music is basically saying This is what it all comes down to, the galaxys fate is about this guy who has to destroy his father. What he came up with is not another replay of one of the established themes, but a stand-alone piece using the male choir, which is associated with the Emperor and thus the dark side of the Force. There are composers I like more than I like Williams, and the JEDI score is not one of my favorites of his, and the movie is a real missed opportunity and the least of the original threesome. But I think this piece is amazing in what it does, which is to supply 80% off the impact of the scene. https://youtube/watch?v=L63In39n86c
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 15:52:09 +0000