The marriage between music and film has blessed us with some of the greatest scenes in all of cinema – from “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” playing over Judd Nelson energetically raising his fist at the end of The Breakfast Club to Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” playing over Renton running through the streets of Edinburgh in Trainspotting. A song can make a good scene into a great scene, and a great movie into an iconic one. Some directors overlook the importance of a soundtrack. It’s more than just having a sound in the background of a scene, it’s taking a scene to the next level by carefully selecting a song that embodies the spirit of the scene.
While many directors have created films with killer soundtracks, one who stands out in my mind as being one who consistently utilizes music to help create depth to his movies is Wes Anderson. Anderson is known for many things: carefully symmetric shots, distinctive visual style, utilizing many of the same actors multiple times (Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, and Owen Wilson, amongst others), but one of the greatest attributes of his films is the way they incorporate music.
Here is a list of list of some iconic musical moments spanning Wes Anderson’s film career:
The Creation, “Making Time”, as heard in Rushmore (1998)
The 1960s garage rock song is a perfect backdrop to the montage detailing teenage overachiever Max Fisher’s many extracurricular activities.
Nico, “These Days”, as heard in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The slow, somber song encapsulates the feeling of desire that is felt between Richie and Margot as they see each other for the first time in years.
Jarvis Cocker, “Petey’s Song”, as heard in The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Pulp front man busts out his banjo for the stop-motion animated film.
Sigur Ros, “Staralfur”, as heard in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
This beautiful song from the Icelandic band leads the scene when Zissou finally confronts the Jaguar Shark.
The Kinks, “This Time Tomorrow”, as heard in The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
This song about taking an adventure into the unknown is the perfect way to begin a movie about an epic train journey.
Elliott Smith, “Needle in the Hay”, as heard in The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Richie’s suicide attempt scene is one of Anderson’s most visceral and arresting scenes, and by far the bleakest. Considering the fact that Smith would take his own life a mere two years after the film was made makes it all the more haunting.
The Faces, “Ooh La La”, as heard in Rushmore (1998)
While Max Fisher doesn’t end up getting the girl, he does get to dance with her to this 70s ditty that laments, "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger."
