The blogosphere is still humming after Radio 1’s Zane Lowe recently curated the re-scoring of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive
There are myriad examples of great films with equally great soundtracks and it’s a joy to see the two things interweave seamlessly (Under the Skin, There Will be Blood, Donnie Darko etc). However, a much overlooked yet ever growing database must also be acknowledged: lacklustre films that boast stellar soundtracks which elevate them.
Let’s begin with a master of the soundtrack.
Death Proof
Tarantino spoke quite candidly about this film in THR’s roundtable conversation series labelling it as “the worst film I ever made” (although he hasn’t shown enough contrition for Four Rooms which was about as funny as piles) but went on to say, “And for a left-handed movie, that wasn’t so bad, right?”
Wrong! This tedious ode to the Grindhouse oeuvre is a two hour long half-baked pastiche padded with plenty of inconsequential dialogue.
However, Tarantino’s encyclopaedic knowledge of pop culture serves his soundtracks well and Death Proof is no exception. A blend of retro-pop and vintage 70s film scores including Eddie Smith’s “Baby it’s you”, Eddie Floyd’s “Good Love Bad Love” and “Jeepster” by T Rex, makes for very enjoyable listening and manages to transcend the fan boy claptrap.