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Mus 281-01

December, 1, 2016

Movie Analysis

“The Untouchables” was the movie choice I picked to do my music film score analysis

on. The movie’s main character was Elliott Ness (Kevin Costner), Al Capone (Robert De Niro),

Jim Malone (Sean Connery), George Stone (Andy Garcia), and Agent Oscar Wallace (Charles

Martin Smith). “The Untouchables” is about prohibition agent, Elliott Ness, with his elite group

of lawmen he recruits. During the ups and downs of them trying to bring Al Capone, legendary

crime boss, to justice.

The music that accompany this movie played a big role; It enhanced the movie

immensely. The music help set the mood, settings, and keep the movie flowing into the next

scenes. The music was brilliantly written; without the music the movie would not have the same

effect.

Depending on the mood the movie is trying to aim for, sometimes actors or actresses

have a hard time setting that mood. So this is when film music plays its part to accomplish what

the actors or actresses could not do. In “The Untouchables” there were lots of different ranges of

moods displayed in this piece of work. An example could be when Agent Oscar Wallace dies

when trying to escort their witness down the elevator (1:05:35). The music is conjunct,

consonance, and moving; you can hear the different varieties of the string instruments. Then the

saxophone smoothly comes in and plays on top of the string instruments. The texture for this

music scene was homophonic; one melody with accompaniment, the melody on top. These

instruments were used because they correctly express the sorrow and sadness for this particular

scene. From the music alone you can tell this musical piece is used as a death theme. The music
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also expresses the pain Elliott Ness and Jim Malone feel when they see their friend murder. You

can feel their pain and their sense of loss for their dear friend.

But there were some scenes that showed lighter and happier moods. Like when first being

introduced to Elliott Ness and his family (0:06:43). You can hear the flute, and the different

string instruments. These instruments were chosen because they capture a relax tone. And they

accomplish the main goal of creating a laidback and peaceful atmosphere. This piece of music is

conjunct, consonance, and is in the major key. Texture of the music piece is also homophonic.

When listening to this you can feel the peace and tranquility. It is setting a peaceful mood and

also in a way enhancing the character’s surroundings; showcasing a nice neighborhood. So with

this music in the background, the audience can also predict that this character, Elliott Ness, is

one of the good guys.

But like every great movie there is always a leitmotif or multiple. A leitmotif is a

constant recurring musical phrase associated either with a person, place, or an idea. There were

many leitmotifs in “The Untouchables”, but I’ll only focus on a few.

The first leitmotif was introduce when the movie first starts rolling (0:00:18 to 0:02:40). I

associate this leitmotif with all the antagonist throughout the movie who work for Al Capone; so

we can name this leitmotif the “minion leitmotif”. The “minion leitmotif” includes all different

types of music instruments. Like percussion with the bass and snare drums. The piano on the

lower register, with some low brass with mutes on their horns. I hear a harmonica and some

woodwind instruments. Music piece is disconjunt, dissonance, and in the minor key. The texture

of this music is homophonic. Music piece is suspenseful and it leaves you guessing what is going

to happen. This “minion leitmotif” pops up a few times throughout the movie. There is the time

when Al Capone’s second hand man confronts Elliott Ness in front of his house asking about his
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little girls’ birthday (0:43:29). That is when this leitmotif starts to play, we automatically know

Al Capone has something to do with this guy questioning Elliott Ness about his daughters’

birthday. Another time this leitmotif pops up is when one of Al Capone’s minions gets into the

elevator with Agent Oscar Wallace and the witness who was going to snitch on Al Capone

(1:04:27). Since this leitmotif is suspenseful, I did not know what was going to happen when Al

Capon’s minion stepped into that elevator. All I knew was that this had something to do with Al

Capone because of the leitmotif.

Another important leitmotif was the “Al Capone” one. This one was interesting and one

of my favorites out of all the others. This one pops up a few times too throughout the movie. But

the “Al Capone” leitmotif is conjunct, consonance, and is in the major key. Texture of this piece

was homophonic. Instruments that I heard throughout this leitmotif were the percussion (the

triangle), the low brass, and the piano. I heard the trombone glissing throughout this piece. The

steady beat of the drum set, mostly likely snare drum. Then at one part there is a string section

that is feature. This leitmotif was an interesting one because it focused on one of the main

characters Al Capone. Every time this leitmotif was playing Capone was always in a great mood,

socializing, and making himself seem like a well-rounded good guy. This leitmotif throughout

the movie help develop Al Capone character because we see that he is very charismatic. And this

trait got him out of trouble a couple of times throughout the movie.

Before doing this analysis I realized how much music makes a movie enjoyable.

Especially if the movie is paired with a good music film score. Music in a way just helps

enhance and piece together scenes to keep a movie flowing. Doing this movie analysis it will

change the way how I watch movies from now on. I will play closer attention when watching

movies and seeing how music helps the movie.

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