In this day of cancel culture it is possible that this film might not get made today. In this day of Hollywood decline (billion dollar comic book extravaganzas to the exclusion of most everything else) is is possible that this film might not get made today. That's a shame, because it's a great story with great actors giving great performances. More to the point of today's post, John Barry won the Oscar for Best Original Score.
You've heard his music before. He wrote the James Bond theme, and scored eleven Bond films. He wrote the music to Dances With Wolves, Lion In Winter (one of my favorite films ever), and Born Free. In 1999 Queen Elizabeth appointed him OBE.
Out Of Africa is about the opposite of Bond music. Rather than exciting and with an edge of danger, it is lush and lyrical. I quite like this - it's good music for a Sunday morning.
I'd forgotten that was Barry's work.
ReplyDeleteGiven the backdrop, the entire movie was extravangantly beautiful, and his score matches it perfectly.
Most of this is the only soundtrack to the scenes of the biplane flight over the veldt.
And every time calamity drops a shoe in real life, in my memory I hear the line "God is coming for you."
Absolutely magnificent -- what a gift to bring together the instruments in such an evocative fashion. I found Out of Africa a bit tedious, but certainly the music was classic in every sense.
ReplyDeleteI like Rush's parody of Born Free.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTwGuxgqYb0