[New Column] Scene & Heard #1 – Gladiator

UTG is continuing to grow and evolve this week with the debut of another weekly column.

Written by UTG critic Grace Duffy, Scene & Heard takes a look at the music that makes our favorite films so memorable. Whether it’s the 400-piece orchestra Christopher Nolan used for The Dark Knight, or the dozen or so bands that contributed to the soundtrack of Top Gun, there is no denying the impact music has on movies and this column hopes to highlight the best of the best.

If you have a suggestion for a film we should cover on Scene & Heard, please contact us by emailing utgjames@gmail.com.

The art of moviemaking is a very subtle thing. You can lob all the money and talent at it you like, it’s in the intricacies that a true classic is born. Such intricacies may take the form of a solid story and screenplay, an assured lead performance, or, as in the films I intend to write about in these columns, a masterly score. A good soundtrack can take a potentially brilliant film and elevate it to classic status, or likewise, take a mundane one and give the audience new reason to love it. Beautiful music is the backbone of a moving story and the most memorable movie scores are ones that immediately evoke vivid snapshots of the film, transporting the listener back to a specific scene and moment in time.

Gladiator is a film that should need no introduction – the classic story of an enslaved general forced to fight in gladiatorial bouts in order to win his freedom and exact vengeance on the murderous emperor. It’s also the classic story of how an entirely plagued production (insert anecdote about Oliver Reed dying and script rewrites here) can become cinematic gold, and, best of all, it gave us Russell Crowe. Gladiator was set for greatness from the off, with a beautifully executed narrative, stunning fight sequences, and a plethora of excellent performances from the ensemble cast. But on top of all this, it came equipped with a truly gorgeous score from composing maestro Hans Zimmer that has become more ingrained in pop culture than many realise.

The score (I shall use ‘score’ and ‘soundtrack’ interchangeably here) is a combined effort, as Zimmer joined forces with Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard to create some haunting vocal efforts as an accompaniment to his music. Their inspired partnership gave us some of the most tender and affecting pieces committed to any film – see “Now We Are Free” and “Elysium” for instance, both hauntingly beautiful compositions used as elegies for the film’s hero. Yet, the defining piece from this soundtrack is one that appears very early in the film, and with one majestic sweep introduces us to the heartrending carnage that is to follow.

“The Battle” is a ten minute epic track that, controversies about its origins notwithstanding, essentially sums up everything that is brilliant about Hans Zimmer in one fell swoop. It’s a bombastic and rugged delight that soars and falls before building to a grandiose and climactic crescendo that sweeps the viewer right into the heart of the conflict depicted. It’s bookended by a distinctly lonesome, almost defiant heroic note that indicates the tribulations awaiting Maximus while at the same time, capturing all his bravery and ardour. The man is a legend to his men and, just as the onscreen fighting illustrates why he’s held in such high esteem, this rousing overture gives him a fitting musical legacy. Zimmer takes this early opportunity to not only create an accompaniment for the general but also to add extra layers of detail and reality to the flurry of arrows, beheadings, and fiery clashes taking place in the film. The rushing midsection of the track acts as a flourish for the advancing Romans, lending the grimy carnage of the battle an added gravitas with the audience and vividly demonstrating how, no matter how searing or realistic the picture, a great piece of music can drench the moment in more emotion and resonance than any camera shot.

Snippets of this track reappear later on in “Barbarian Horde,” interwoven curtly with some of the more heroic themes to send an extra tingle down your spine. It’s in “The Battle” however that Zimmer really unleashes the visionary fury that makes him such a revered name. It’s an aural delight for any music or film fan, so vividly representative is it of the movie itself. Best of all, it’s part of the opening montage, leaving you the whole rest of the film to really get lost in Zimmer’s triumph. As an example of a great movie that has all its basic ingredients in place and merely requires some orchestral framing to seal the deal, this work is the Caesar of the moviemaking world. (Pun only partially intended.)

Written by: Grace Duffy (Follow her on Twitter)

James Shotwell
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