Sophia Coppola: On Movies and Music Soundtracks
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson in Lost In Translation.
There have been many motion picture soundtracks that have been memorable. They fester in your brain like an ear worm and play on repeat in your head when you try to sleep. A few that come to mind that had a true setlist of incredible songs were soundtracks from the movies Almost Famous, Grease, Purple Rain, Reality Bites, and the movie Singles.
When I think of motion picture soundtracks over the past 25 years that have stood out to me when it came to the music not only accompanying a movie, but actually making the score as equally important to the movie itself and the viewer’s experience, I think about movies directed by Sophia Coppola.
These soundtracks feel like mix tapes and one is even listed in my favorite albums of all time. Now that I think about it, I only have three soundtracks in my entire digital archive. The reason that I connect to these albums is that they feature electronic music—music that has been as equally important to me as rock, blues, jazz, and metal. (yes, I did say metal).
The first soundtrack that truly drew me in and connected me deeper to a film was the 2003 classic Lost In Translation, Sofia Coppola’s masterpiece featuring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, and one of my top five favorite movies of all time. It features synth-pop tracks by Phoenix, My Bloody Valentine, AIR, and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine also included a few of his own ambient tracks to this soundtrack that fit like puzzle pieces for the specific scenes that they appeared in. I loved the way they closed out the movie with the song Just Like Honey by The Jesus and Mary Chain. In my personal opinion, this was as iconic as the Simple Minds track Don’t You Forget About Me from the movie The Breakfast Club, but then again, I may be partial as I’ve been a big JMC fan for over 30 years.
Coppola teamed up with music supervisor Brian Reitzell to select music for her movies, including this one, her 2000 film The Virgin Suicides, and the 2006 film Marie Antionette. The one mainstay in these three films was the band AIR and their mostly instrumental, dream-like songs. It’s also good to mention that music supervisor Reitzell happened to be their drummer for a time. AIR was asked to be part of the soundtrack for the The Virgin Suicides movie and they ended up scoring a whole albums worth of tracks. Their song Playground Love kicks off the soundtrack and was hauntingly fitting for this movie. To bring a contemporary edge to the story of Marie Antoinette, they included tracks by Bow Wow Wow, New Order, Aphex Twin, AIR, and The Cure. My favorite track from that movie is Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie & The Banshees.
Is Sophia Coppola really making movies, or are they music video vignettes pieced together to create a full-length feature film? I’ll let you decide. In the meantime, here are five other motion picture soundtracks that heavily feature electronic artists and help to set the tone for the movies. Do any of these make your list?
5. The Social Network – (2010) Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross put together this Golden Globe and Academy Award winning masterpiece with this soundtrack of ambient tracks that bounce back and forth off of each other like ideas on a Meta Zoom call. Favorite Song: On We March
4. Swordfish – (2014) We already knew Paul Oakenfold was a master trance DJ and music producer. His 2002 album Bunkka is one of my favorites. He curated this beast of a soundtrack with his own music and a few remixes. Favorite Song: Get Out of My Life Now
3. Spawn – (1997) The pairing of artists that were created for this soundtrack was extremely unique. Filter & The Crystal Method, Korn & The Dust Brothers, Butthole Surfers & Moby, Slayer & Atari Teenage Riot, just to name a few. They’re just not bands that hang together on the regular (at least that’s what I assume.) Favorite Song: The Prodigy & Tom Morello - One Man Army
2. Hackers – (1995) This might be one of the first soundtracks that can remember that focused heavily on electronic music. It features Orbital, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Leftfield, Stereo MC’s. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available on iTunes/Apple Music. Favorite Song: Stereo MC’s - Connected
1. Garden State – (2004) The release of this Grammy award winning soundtrack featured tracks by Zero 7, Thievery Corporation, Frou Frou, Coldplay, The Shins, and Iron & Wine. A moody mix of tracks curated by Garden State Writer & Director Zack Braff helped put a few of these artists on the map. Favorite Song: Frou Frou – Let Go