Having re-ploughed through season 3 of The Sopranos and driving home listening to Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones I was suddenly inspired to examine Martin Scorsese's preoccupation with rock music and how he uses them to great effect.
Some have argued that Scorsese has glamourised the life of organised crime but I find this a lazy generalisation. If we examine the films without soundtracks, we find that both Charlie (Harvey Keitel) and Johnny (Robert De Niro) end up shot, Henry descends from dizzy heights to drug addled and paranoid and sells out to live the quiet life, Sam Rothstein ends up 'back where he started' and everyone plainly shoots each other dead in The Departed.
The glamour of crime is very short lived, though highly appealing when contextualised with food, alcohol and partying. We happily reminisce about The Crystals, 'Then He Kissed Me' scene in Goodfellas which glamorized the sway and power in the gangster world combined with none of the violence attached. Compare this to the ending grey haired, bloodshot eyes of Henry when he is being tracked by the helicopter, being overplayed by Harry Nilsson 'Jump into the Fire' and we would still prefer the former. There are no redeeming features to Henry's character towards the end of Goodfellas.
We can examine these specific choice of music in several ways. One obvious example is that the Crystals track is 1963, released 8 years after the film was to have started and fits in culturally and chronologically. This goes the same for Nilsson's 1984 'Jump into the Fire', a drug infused jumpy track, spliced with The Who's Magicbus and Rolling Stones' Monkey Man. The song simply fits the times. Secondly, the Crystals track emphasises courtship, love and marriage which fits for Henry's and Karen's first date. Jump into the Fire is quite blatant drug inspired cataclysm of excitement and tripped up imagination. So there is the allegorical features of the music. Thirdly, and very Scorsese like, they are cool songs. I would argue that what Scorsese glamorises if anything, is not violence and consumption, but coolness. His protagonists in his film always seem happiest with minimal responsibility and just hanging out with their friends. All their character arcs peak at youthful exuberance, only when they grow up and face consequences do their fortunes plummet. Scorsese seems to suggest, yes, it would obviously be fun to have large amounts of cash and be able to eat in restaurants without paying. But could you pay the price on your soul? Do any of his protagonists win?
The Rolling Stones, spanning five decades of pop and rock music make it easy for Scorsese to segue them into his themes of contextualisation and allegorical storyboards. My favourite use is the entrance of De Niro's Johnny in Mean Streets. Strutting in with two girls on his arm with Jumpin Jack Flash overriding the audio. No its not subtle, docile or suggestive. It is hip gyrating, raw and visceral. And bloody amazing. What is enjoyable about Scorsese's gangster films is that despite the infrequent violence and bad language is that you feel the Scorsese is enjoying the film as much as we are. They aren't complex, they are signposted and narrated. You could leave the room for ten minutes, come back and rely that you will be brought up to speed imminently. This is why the Stones fit so well, they too are simplistic, heavy hitting and are plain good fun. Both Scorsese and The Stones are technically very proficient and appeal to mass audiences, they have spanned several decades and still enjoy their work.
Scorsese's protagonists, like the Stones, are rebels and consumers. They dominate the screen and their brash uncompromising language echoes the spicy direct tones of Keith Richard's guitar. Arguably the signature track of both Scorsese and The Stones would be Gimme Shelter. The Song is derived from the impending doom of Vietnamese war and the collapse of the virtues of Woodstock, peace and love. 'Rape, Violence, its just a shot away' screams both Jagger and Clayton as Richards wails his guitar. Scorsese's frequent depictions of his characters fall from riches to rags echoes this song's sentiments. If I had to pick another 70's song to emulate these fears and concerns it would be The Doors 'The End' and we know which film snuck that in to great effect.
Scorsese's back catalogue of music choices ranges from Cavalleria Rusticana-Intermezzo (1890) to 'I'm Shipping up to Boston (2005) and it would take an eternity to fully examine each choice. What we can rely on is deliberate subliminal thought provoking tracks that aren't just slipped in by a faceless producer but choices that echo and compliment Scorsese's direct directors style. To paraphrase my favourite fictional band, Scorsese turns the music up to 11. If the scene calls for an entrance, Scorsese will deliver it. If he wants to emulate the rock of roll lifestyle of one of his characters he will pick the rockiest track he can. The main difference between Scorsese and other directors who use rock music to good effect would be the collaborative relationship between the music and the shot. Both intertwine with each other to harmonise and compliment, not just to pay royalties to his favourite band.
I am continuously overwhelmed by your ability to see way more than a story when you watch a movie. You see art. That's why you are a good critic.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more- Scorsese's main point to me is that the gangster lifestyle leaves those who partake in it bereft of any sense of humanity, and the musical scores reinforce this in a very powerful way.
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