In Act V of The Merchant of Venice, the two lovers Lorenzo and
Jessica are listening to music on a moonlit night. Though Jessica is uneasy about the music—and possibly Lorenzo’s
faithfulness—Lorenzo proclaims the power of love through music:
For do but note a wild and wanton herd
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing, and neighing loud,
Which is the hot condition of their blood;
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound,
Or any air of music touch their ears,
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze
By the sweet power of music...The man that has no music in himself,
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, strategems, and spoils...Let no such man be
trusted (V.1.).
In Hollywood, it’s generally assumed that there are few such men—or
women—in the audience. Indeed, the
“wild and wanton herd” is always ready to be manipulated by the blood and guts
power of music, which is arguably the key component to movie magic. To test this, mute a particularly
action-packed or emotional scene and compare it to the original. More than the dialogue is missing: a crucial
element of the atmosphere dissipates, leaving a kind of shadow play on screen,
recognizable only to those who have seen the original. Oftentimes scores can be needlessly
obtrusive or sentimental, and for this reason can get in the way of the story
and the actors. At their best, however,
music accentuates the drama and makes us feel things ‘between the lines’ of a
film which no amount of acting or dialogue can possibly create. Bette Davis famously complained that Erich
Korngold’s surging, Romantic scores all too often upstaged her, which can be
well imagined when listening to the soundtrack to Elizabeth and Essex or
Captain Blood. So what is the
proper role of a movie soundtrack: background support or lead actor in its own
right?
