When I try to explain to people what music does for the movies I point to moments in film. Moments like the soaring spirits of Braveheart and Apollo 13 (composed in the same year by James Horner). The simple haunting piano in Patch of Blue by Jerry Goldsmith or, the quiet whisper of the power of love in A Beautiful Mind, when Jennifer Connelly mounts the stairs to return to an embattled schizophrenic husband or when John Nash (Russell Crowe) dedicates his noble prize to their love.
Though they would no doubt have moved you without music; it would not have reached into your soul to create a moment that would last for decades. One that could be recaptured by playing a 30 second cue or an entire score; with no visuals, the tears returning again year after year even when you close your eyes.
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Source: Cineaste, Mar97, Vol. 22 Issue 4, p10, 4p, 11bw.
Item Number: 9705161815
