Film Score Focus

If you look up the word antihero you get a fairly broad array of varying definitions. Wikipedia.org I think explains it best.

In fiction, an anti-hero is a protagonist who is lacking the traditional heroic attributes and qualities, and instead possesses character traits that are antithetical to heroism. Typically, the anti-hero acts heroically, in scale and daring, but by methods, manners, and intentions both fair and foul, even underhanded and deceitful.

I've always loved stories that involve the antihero. There's something about rooting for the "bad guy" that is mildly refreshing. Well, this week on FILM SCORE FOCUS I decided to use music to celebrate not just the rare antihero but the even rarer female antihero. It's not easy to write a story expecting your audience to root for a main character who is of questionable moral character. It's even more difficult when that character is a woman. Throughout cinematic history women in general have made long strides toward breaking the cliché "woman-in-peril" stereotype. As our cinematic world progresses through the decades, we see women characters who are not only strong, brave, daring, cunning, intelligent, and adventurous, but in the case of the films I've selected for this program, underhanded, deceitful, intimidating, frightening, and ill-reputable. This is a fairly recent innovation in cinema and the music accompanying this week's selection reflect some rather interesting portraits of these characters.

Here is the lineup for FSF-098 Girls Behaving Badly



What's most amazing to me about this particular program is how diverse the music can be given a very specific and targeted context. It just proves the degree of imagination and creativity that can go into almost any cinematic situation given some of the same devices, characters, and plot points that can be found. The whole idea for this program stemmed from one film: BAD GIRLS (1994). Although not one of my favorite films, it does harbor one of my favorite Jerry Goldsmith scores of the 1990's. Goldsmith was a master of the western score and his addition of BAD GIRLS to his filmography further solidified his legacy. Remaining true to the female anti-hero theme, Goldsmith paints our lead female characters as adventuresome, courageous, brave, but also, deviant, heartless, and very very bad. But in the end....you're rooting for them which Goldsmith's music does so well to compliment.

Before Andy and Larry Wachowski created the MATRIX (1999-2003) trilogy, they made a very cool little Hitchcockian thriller entitled BOUND (1996). Once again, our female antiheroes are liars, thieves, betrayers, and backstabbers, but you're rooting for them to make out with the cash by the end of the film. It's an uproariously entertaining film that is dark and also erotic. The music by Don Davis paints all of these colors into the score and makes these characters easier for us to overlook their shortcomings and wish for them to succeed. As an audience we're just not used to seeing women characters portrayed in cinema in such a way which is one of the reasons this well-written film is such a joy to watch.

I don't make a habit of playing musicals on this program however the girls from CHICAGO (2002) fit the mold of the antihero so well I couldn't just leave them out. Plus, this musical adaptation sports an underscore by Danny Elfman as he weaves between the songs music fitting of the times and of our female leads. We have have antiheroine pitted against antiheroine in a cat-clawing explosion where each vies to get the upperhand, the last word, and the man of their infatuation.

THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987) shows how the female antihero can also be a device to propel comedy. Jack Nicholson deliciously plays Lucifer incarnate who proceeds to seduce three women each played by Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Here, our antiheroines conspire at first to rid the others so that they have Daryl Van Horne all to themselves. In time, they adopt a new strategy to rid their worlds of Van Horne all together. If anyone can paint a picture of a comical yet macabre world it's the brilliant John Williams. THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK remains one of his most beloved scores and is often performed in concerts of his works around the world.

Finall, no film can sum up the true meaning of the female antihero better than THELMA & LOUISE (1991). Here we find two broken-home friends traveling the vast American countryside spreading mayhem and tomfoolery in their wake. They're success earns them an army of law enforcement officers on their heels which escalates toward the inevitable climax of the film which is one of the most daring endings of any film of recent recollection. This film broke all the molds and continues to be a favorite among many. It also brandishes an early score by the uber-popular composer, Hans Zimmer. His use of subtle slide guitars makes this an especially good score.

The only slightly unfortunate thing about this program is the rarity of the soundtracks for all these scores. Most can be found here and there but for the most part they'll take some searching to acquire. I'll put what I can down below and leave the rest up to you.

Enjoy!