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The Sound of Cultural Representation: Aural Renditions of Society in Film Music

by Winona van Alstyne

Abstract The topic of this paper is an exploration of the ways in which aural cues in movie soundtracks are used as cultural devices. These indications are created through the use of certain instruments, a meter or rhythmic pattern, a melodic line with specially chosen intervals, and even the use of a musical genre in opposition to the movies setting. A prime example of aural markers that supply social presumptions through music is the film score to the spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966) composed by Ennio Morricone. This is a European, primarily Italian, look at the United States during the period of the American Civil War. The instrumentation denotes the period in which the film was made while the melodic lines are very romantic with a particularly Italian cantabile quality. The second type of cultural soundtrack is via a film used to glorify the country in which it was made. Tan Dun wrote the soundtrack to the Chinese blockbuster Hero (2002) to augment the political undertones in the movie. Additionally, to help create a movie with broader global implications, Duns soundtrack music both portrays influences from American Minimalism and Chinese traditional music. The final soundtrack sample is the unusual score for the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, directed by Sofia Coppola. This film score is a compilation of punk rock tracks set to the demure 18th century scenery of Marie Antoinettes early life. The genre of rock music is smartly chosen to provide a feeling of modernity and immediate connection to a young protagonist for youthful audiences today. Soundtracks are often a films greatest asset and go a long way in clarifying a films true meaning symbolically and derivatively based on the period in which they were created and the period they are created about.

This document is an exploration of the ways in which musical devices in film music provide aural cues to substantiate common cultural beliefs. These beliefs can include social assumptions, generalizations, and popular opinion. Aural tools embedded in soundtracks aide the movie observer in associating societal concepts, settings, and circumstances together, ultimately strengthening the meaning of the essential thematic content of a movie. The power of a soundtrack depends on how well it can communicate to its audience these aural indications. This communication is achieved through the use of music that belays common cultural perceptions. Therefore, assumptions, generalizations, and popular opinion are all present in soundtracks. The three films chosen provide examples of unique aural characteristics. The first, Tan Duns soundtrack to Hero (2002), utilizes specific traditional Chinese instruments to induce nationalist sentiment while simultaneously setting it in a Western-musical style. The second, Ennio Morricones famous film score to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), employs unusual vocals to create a dramatic representation of life in Southwest towns during the American Civil War. Thirdly, the 2006 Sofia Coppola film, Marie Antoinette, uses a compilation of Post Punk and New Wave artists for its soundtrack in daring juxtaposition to the eighteenth century French historical setting. Aural markers such as these and a multitude of others can be discerned in these three disparate, though equally compelling, film scores. The martial arts epic, Hero, was a massive blockbuster produced in mainland China. The film is loosely based on an assassination attempt on the Prime Minister of the Qin empire, Jin Ke, in 227BC. The international Chinese superstar, Jet Li, played the protagonist, dubbed Nameless. In an interview with Time Magazine in 2008, Jet Li said that Hero was one of his greatest movies because it advocates that the

suffering of one person is never as significant as the suffering of a nation. In making this remark Jet Li is revealing his cultural background. Both a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism as well as champion of Chinese martial arts, Jet Li grew up surrounded by the Chinese nationalist ideology strongly displayed in Hero. Nameless ends up sacrificing his life for the leader whom he originally desired to annihilate as a result of realizing the ultimate significance of Jin Kes plan for consolidation of the Seven Warring States into one empire, i.e. China. To buttress these cultural ideals, Tan Dun steeps the Hero soundtrack with identifiably traditional Chinese sounds using ancient instruments like the Erhu (two stringed vertical fiddle), Guqin (a seven-stringed plucked horizontal zither), and Durha (large floor drum) among others. An exemplary scene is Nameless first fight with the assassin, Long Sky. At this point in the film, an old guqin player is asked to perform while the two martial artists fight. The music is expressly likened to martial art by Nameless and the guqin performance appears to dictate the physical movements of the adversaries. Tan Dun capitalizes on the popular notion of what traditional Chinese music sounds like and then further romanticizes it and makes it more accessible to modern listeners by adding strings and an orchestral accompaniment. Tan Dun writes graceful melodies that incorporate leaps with slight glissandos. The lines often have repeated jumps of perfect fifths which are then filled in by descending minor thirds. These gestures create a heroic but melancholy impression. Overall, a Western form of tonality is maintained throughout with clear tonal centers and decisive five-one motion. This is broken only by lengthy drum sequences featuring Chinese drums and various other percussive instruments trading rhythmic fragments. These motivic sequences often occur during a martial arts fight catering to the dancing of the martial artists and lending drum beats to punctuate and keep in

time, at least conceptually, the physical blows made. The restrained power so characteristic of martial arts is in this way further reinforced by the defined exactness prevalent in the sound and rhythm of the kodo drums. The unified voice of the people of China is symbolized aurally by the male chorus used several times in the soundtrack. The choir informs the films audience how to feel; it imposes fear, for example, with short, barking-like walls of sound in the massive army scenes or expresses a cultural sentiment such as mourning as demonstrated in the burial of Nameless. This Chinese-Western hybrid style of soundtrack material was chosen to provide a culturally sensitive though internationally aware soundtrack. This stylistic implementation is further underscored by Tan Duns choice of Itzak Perlman as the violin soloist for the soundtrack instead of the numerous great contemporary Chinese players. Notably, most of the soundtrack was recorded outside of China and none of the musicians were part of any Chinese musical groups. Despite garnering great acclaim in China and throughout the world by the general public, some critics have said that Hero spouts a pro-unification political subtext, and furthermore, provides justification for ruthless and censorious leadership. This is in complete opposition to the movies director, Zhang Yimous, quoted intent for the theme of the movie. Directed during the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Yimou said in the documentary about the making of Hero that he wanted to produce a unifying movie prevalent to the world through a Chinese lens. The difference in opinion by the critics is in part due to a fundamental mistranslation in the English version of the movie. The meaning of the Chinese characters Tian Xia which comprise the essential text symbolizing the main theme in Hero is translated as the nationalistically implied Our Land in the English subtext, yet their meaning is far more open-ended in fact. These

characters actually hint at a peace for all theme and are perceived as a wholeness created from oneness. This is a crucial example of how the social implications of a film can be perceived differently by separate cultures. In many ways, Tan Duns soundtrack exhibits the intended universal view of the oneness and greater good for all themes contained in the movie. Most exceptionally, the ideological themes and their different perceptions are all prevalent in Tan Duns soundtrack with slight variations despite its Westernized stylistic elements. This interpretation is made possible because it conveys Duns personal story. According to personal writings, this Chinese musician left to study broader forms of music in the United States. His film score music both portrays influences from American Minimalism, which he took great interest in, as well as, Chinese traditional music, especially shamanic percussive music. On the other hand, the work of Ennio Morricone some forty years earlier is more subtlety grounded in the culture of the people for which the movie was predominantly intended. In part, this is because the film, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was not written to glorify Italy as Hero, by contrast, was to glorify China, but rather as a form of cinematic escapism. In this Italian film, cultural assumptions are especially apparent. Ironically, the film is set in a specific American historical time period. The film score to the spaghetti western (a now classic Italian movie genre), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), composed by Ennio Morricone, is a European, primarily Italian, look at the Southern United States during the American Civil War. It follows the story of three gunslingers who crisscross each other in looking for some lost Confederate gold. The score instrumentation has the feel of a standard orchestra, however, the melody is taken up primarily by ear-catching instruments such as electric guitar, acoustic guitar, human whistling, harmonica, trumpet, and bugle. Some choices reflect the

popular instruments of the period during which the movie was made while others reference the period in which the film is set. Ennio Morricone made great use of instrument symbolism. For example, the harmonica is commonly viewed as an American instrument and the fabulous bugle licks and marching rolls throughout the soundtrack reflect the historical Civil War setting. A specific example of the use of the bugle and trumpets is contained in a scene where a protagonist is riding through a cemetery. Here, Ennio Morricone blends various bugle calls, all superimposed over a melancholy trombone solo. The chords underneath often have a jazz flare to them and there is a section with muted trumpet that could be straight out of jazz orchestra. In addition, the electric guitar, popular in the 60s, adds an exciting new quality and is often paired with the marching drums and building vocals to aurally increase the tension during a horse riding scene. Morricones familiarity with jazz came from his father who was, in fact, a jazz trumpeter. Jazz is also viewed as a decidedly American means of expression and Morricone sought to solidify the setting of the movie for European audiences with this symbolic stylistic choice. Equally enthralling in this many layered soundtrack is Ennio Morricones ease in switching from quick paced martial music into long melodic lines that are very romantic with a particularly florid Italian cantabile quality. This trait harkens to Italian popular music of the 60s. Morricone often has two melodies playing over one another, both tethered to a single rhythm. The most pervasive percussive rhythm in these sequences is one indicative of horse clopping, further developing the western feel. While studying at the Italian conservatory during World War II, Morricone fell deeply in love with choral compositions. This is clear with his almost incessant use of voices that he

thought using the human voice was essential to filling out his film scores. The most unique example of Ennio Morricones European view on the United States is the reference to Native Americans in the vocal parts of many tracks in the soundtrack. The first piece on The Good, the Bad and the Ugly uses this motivic texture repeatedly and it is reprised ever after. The cleanly structured soundtrack to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly exhibits music that has elements of modernity while, at the same time, evoking strong western themes. Another soundtrack that invokes the contemporary musical interests at the time it was created is Marie Antoinette (2006). However, unlike the intent of most soundtracks, the music can hardly be said to set the scene for royal intrigue in eighteenth century France. The film, Marie Antoinette, is based loosely on the book of the same name by Antonia Fraser. It comes off as a visual excursion in French royal life devoid of political context or much serious historical plot material. This is in recognition of the audience for which the movie is intended. It is a biopic of sorts encompassing the young Marie Antoinettes move to France and proceeds through her years as the Queen, ending just prior to the French Revolution. The soundtrack to Marie Antoinette chosen by the director, Sophia Coppola, is a compilation of tracks by UK and US Post Punk and New Wave artists. The pieces range from ambient electronic piano works by Dustin OHalloran and Squarepusher, to thumping tracks containing rough vocals and experimental electronic gestures by rock bands such as Siouxie and the Banshees, Bow Wow Wow, and Adam and the Ants. The majority of the rock bands on the soundtrack were at their peak around the mid 90s as part of the revitalization of the punk rock movement. The upbeat and exciting numbers contained in the film such as Aphrodisiac, by Bow Wow Wow, and What Ever Happened, by The Strokes, are played during momentous and

active scenes such as the coronation, hunting, horseback riding, dress choosing, and parties. This simplistic means of expressing excitement utilizing fast-paced music is something employed in all soundtracks. However, Sophia Coppola utilizes her unique genre choices to evoke the feeling of excitement the characters are portraying while likening it to enthusiasm felt by people of today. For example, during the dress sequence, the shots fall into rhythm with the hard hits on the bass drum making it every bit like a music video with a funky eighteenth century theme. This is devised to emphasize the contemporary personality of Marie Antoinette displayed in the film. Coppola said in a 2006 interview that her stylized interpretation of Marie Antoinettes life, [including the musical choice], was intentionally done to humanize the historical figure and create a more relatable youthful image for audiences today. In order to achieve this, Coppola chose to use music of the generation watching the film as a backdrop to the visual splendor of French royalty. The other major theme in Marie Antoinette is perhaps best explained by the rhythmic and dynamic audacity of the music which thumps its way through what would have been otherwise intimate scenes. Even the colorful party shots seem in some way overshadowed by the music of Siouxie and the Banshees with their song Hong Kong Garden. Hong Kong Garden, with its strong female vocal line suggests overt feminism. Marie Antoinette's impulsive, extravagant character and willingness to sideline social propriety in preference for her precocious lifestyle is often perceived as proto-feministic in the film. This in some ways reflects rock music in general because the aggressive eighties punk rock evolved as a movement away from earlier mainstream rock. The subculture that became associated with punk rock was deeply rooted in the youthful population and that is the target audience of Marie Antoinette. The Dauphines independence

from her husband can been viewed as analogous to this punk rock music which plays while we watch Marie Antoinette have an affair, gamble, and throw parties while her husband is hardly a participant and seems mired in personal uncertainty. There are only four pieces contained in the movie that one would expect to hear on a period soundtrack. Three are brief harpsichord movements by Couperin and Scarlatti, while the fourth is an aria by Rameau. While watching the movie one is only made slightly aware of the harpsichord music as it plays at a very low decibel level in contrast to the real-life sounds of the film throughout the first scene while Marie Antoinette is still in her native Austria. The aria is given greater effect because it is played during the funeral of Marie Antoinettes second daughter. Apart from these two brief moments ambient rock music pervades most of the scenes unapologetically introducing itself during the quiet scene of Marie Antoinette's initial sally onto French soil. Therefore, it can be seen that the social representations imbedded in movies are heavily linked with the cultural assumptions of the target viewing cultures. Together these can define and supply a soundtrack with its motivic intent. Film music is traditionally written after the movie is made and must, therefore, fit the tone, color, and visual representations in the movie. However, one can also argue that a soundtrack makes a film into the spectacle it is. Music supplies a continuous identity, a transparent emotional framework, a structural thematic format, and provides an ideological clarity that words and even images sometimes distort or confuse. Tan Duns film music in Hero both portrays influences from American Minimalism and Chinese traditional music. Tan Dun grew up under the Cultural Revolution in China, but he remained highly interested in shamanic music which, in turn, led him to use unusual special

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effects and percussive techniques in his soundtracks. In fact, Dun has been able to use these effects today partly due to the influence of Ennio Morricone who added special sounds to his film scores after his years of working as a composer for the Italian radio service. As one of the first composers to do so, he enhanced the possibilities in soundtracks such as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as well as in other music forms of expression. In addition, the punk rock Sofia Coppola has loved since her high school years has capitalized on these new forms of sound and remains one of the dominant genres of music that experiments with electronic and percussive sound-making. The punk rock tracks set to the demure eighteenth century historical period paradoxically defines our era more vividly than it describes the period the movie represents. Yet, in all these movies the fantastical visions represented sustain their reality and believability in the music underscoring them. That is because the music taps into what is both socially expected and imagined by the audience. The power of what is unseen, but rather heard, in a film and the ways in which it can be understood in social context is revealing both anthropologically and musically. A film score is often a films greatest asset and goes a long way towards clarifying a films true meaning, symbolically and derivatively based on the period in which it is created and the period it is created about.

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Works Cited Buhler, James, and David Neumeyer, and Rob Deemer. Hearing the Movies: Music and Sound in Film History. Oxford University Press: 2009. Print. Coleman, Christopher. The Soundtrack Experience. Tracksounds: How Swift Is Thy Score. Tracksounds Publishing. Print. Ebert, Roger. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)." The Chicago-Sun Times. Aug. 2003. Print. "Filmtracks: Hero (Tan Dun). Filmtracks: Modern Soundtrack Reviews. Filmtracks, 23 Sept. 2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/hero.html>. "In Competition- Marie Antoinette." Festival De Cannes, 2006. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http:// www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4352266/year/ 2006.html>. Leinberger, Charles. Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Film Score Guide. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2004. Print. Morricone, Ennio. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Original Soundtrack. Perf. Unione Musicisti di Roma and I Cantori Moderni di Alessandroni. Cond. Bruno Nicolai. Emi America and Capital Records, 1966. CD. Phares, Heather. "Marie Antoinette Original Soundtrack." AllMusic. Rovi Corporation, 2006. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http://www.allmusic.com/album/marie-antoinettemw0000771725>. Rosar, William H. Strauss also Sprach Zarathustra: Music Featured in 2001 A Space Odyssey. The Journal of Film Music. 3.2 (2010). Print. Russell, Jesse, and Ronald Cohn. Ennio Morricone. Bookvika publishing, 2011. Print. Schubert, Linda. The Film Scores of Henry Vars in the United States Polish Music Journal 4.1 (2001). Print. Tan, Dun. Hero Original Soundtrack. Perf. Angeles Childrens Chorus, Santa Monica Youth Theatre, Itzhak Perlman and other individuals. Cond. George Fenton. Sony Music Records, 2002-06. CD. Tan, Dun. Tan Dun Online. Parnassas Productions Inc., 2012. Web. 04 Nov. 2012. <http:// www.tandunonline.com/>.

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Utz, Christian. Neue Musik Und Interkulturalitt: Von John Cage Bis Tan Dun. Stuttgart: Steiner, 2002. Print. Various Artists, Marie Antoinette Original Soundtrack. Perf. Siouxsie and the Banshees, New Order, The Cure, Bow Wow Wow. Verve Forecast/Polydor, 2006. CD.