This sunday it is the moment of truth. As described in our previous post, on sunday December 16th a Lumière Special will take place. With not just one, but two special guests, not only will the mystery be solved about our last Film and Literature contest, also you all voted for your favorite movie music.
To help you enlighten this episode, we provide you this small tip! The top ten will look like this:
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Keep this sheet close on Sunday! Fill in the missing movies and songs so you will never forget what were the Best Soundtracks on Sunday 2012!
The Hobbit
takes us on a new journey through Middle-Earth, decades before the story of The Lord of the Rings. We are reunited
with some old, trusted characters and are introduced to a number of new ones.
Despite quite some production issues, the film is directed by another trusted
character, Peter Jackson and written by Phillipa Boyens and Fran Walsh, with
the addition of Guillermo del Toro. The composition of the music was once again
entrusted to Howard Shore.
All in all, the story is nicely
interwoven with The Lord of the Rings
through a shared moment. Bilbo and Frodo are preparing for Bilbo’s one hundred
and eleventh birthday as Bilbo decides to write down his adventures in a book,
with the intriguing opening: “My Dear Frodo, you asked me once if I had told
you everything there was to know about my adventures. While I can honestly say
I have told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it…” However, the
story takes a long time to gather speed. In an effort to draw us right back
into Tolkien’s fantasy world, the film opens with an impressive battle sequence
that tells the background story of the dwarves that are soon to appear. I would
have liked for the film to have started of differently though, with the joyful
wit that is so characteristic of The
Hobbit and separates the book from its big brother. That playfulness
luckily comes into play when we revisit Hobbiton and the thirteen dwarves start
tumbling through Bilbo’s door, figuratively and literally. The strength of the
book and of Bilbo as the unlikely hero, lies in the growth of the character
from a homebird with childlike qualities to an epic hero without ever losing
his charm and humouristic appeal. The filmmakers and actor Martin Freeman
succeed in bringing this transformation to the screen, but in my opinion, it
would have been more true to the heart of the story and more beneficial to its
progress to allow for the film as a whole to develop in a parallel way from the
start on. The Riddles in the Dark scene was one of those scenes strongly
anticipated by many Tolkien fans and as such also by me. I have to say that I
was not disappointed and might even say that the long moment when Bilbo looks
into Gollem’s eyes and makes the fundamental choice without which the whole
further history that is The Lord of the
Rings never could have ended well, is one of those scenes that will stick
in my mind forever.
As we visit a lot of the same places
we did in The Lord of the Rings, a
large part of the music in this film is reminiscent of the existing trilogy at
many points. The themes for the Shire and Rivendell have remained the same,
with some minor arrangements here and there to keep it fresh and when Galadriel
appears we even hear parts of the old Lothlórien theme. The “In Dreams” melody
also makes a comeback, but the music that accompanies the dwarves is an
entirely new theme, characterised by the use of brass players, translating the
robust nature and mighty history of the dwarf folk, but also the nostalgic
longing to regain that history into music. This history and sense of longing is
very clear in the dwarf song that is integrated in the trailer and consequently
in the film. The song is an original poem from Tolkien, as included in the
first chapter of his Hobbit book, put to music and a beautiful accolade to the
writer’s poetic talents. However, for me, the one scene where music and image
reach their full potential has to be the one where we as viewers are soaring
through the air together with the mighty giant eagles and the music brings such
a calm and peace, as if there are no dark forces and no wars to be fought and
there never were.
Laura Van Wymersch
Laura Van Wymersch is 24 years old and studied English & Dutch Linguistics and Cultural Studies at the Catholic University of Leuven. Not only has she been one of the most loyal fans of Lumière, on November 25th, 2012 she was also our guest expert in Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings adaptations. Listen to the interview here. Laura already wrote a blog about the Lord of the Rings that can be read here.
Todays hottest Belgian movie is with no doubt 'The Broken Circle Breakdown'. This movie, directed by Felix Van Groeningen, opened and closed the Film Festival of Ghent. With their performance on the World Soundtrack Awards the importance of the movie music of the film got to the fore. The genre of the soundtrack isn't the stereotype of country and bluegrass music. Bjorn Ericksson rewrote existing classics in the country- & bluegrass-repertoire creatively for, for instance, the voices of Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh.
cast Broken Circle Breakdown live at the WSA (c) Bert Wastijn
Who watched the movie can tell that the soundtrack is not just supporting the story but is standing in constant relation to all the aspects of this film. Not only because the main characters are no doubt the key figures of a bluegrass band that perform in diverse scenes. Also the lyrics connect with different layers in the soundtrack and the story. We can state that the music is one of the important elements that take this film to a higher level and make it even more touching.
For huge fans of this tupe of bluegrass music and for those who want to hear more movie music of this kind, the Original SoundTrack (OST) is already available in multimedia stores. It contains 15 tracks, as shown below:
1. Will the Circle Be Unbroken
Johan Heldenberg : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : voice, guitar
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : voice , banjo
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Nils de Caster : voice , violin
Lenn Dauphin : bass
2. The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn
Johan Heldenberg : voice, banjo
Veerle Baetens : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : dobro, guitar
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : banjo
Geert Waegeman : violin
Nils de Caster : mandoline
Lenn Dauphin : bass
3. Dusty Mixed Feelings
Bjorn Eriksson : guitar
4. Wayfaring Stranger
Veerle Baetens : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : dobro
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson: guitar
Nils de Caster : violin
Lenn Dauphin : bass
5. Rueben's Train
Bjorn Eriksson : guitar
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : banjo
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Nils de Caster : violin
Lenn Dauphin : bass
6. Country in My Genes
Veerle Baetens : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : guitar
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : banjo
Nils de Caster : mandoline
Geert Waegeman : violin
Johan Heldenberg : backingvocal
Lenn Dauphin : bass
7. Further On up the Road
Johan Heldenberg : voice, banjo
Bjorn Eriksson : dobro
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : guitar
Nils de Caster : violin
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Lenn Dauphin : bass
8. Where Are Heading, Tumbleweed?
Bjorn Eriksson : Ukelele, autoharp, e-bow guitars, bass, national guitar
9. Over in the Gloryland
Veerle Baetens : voice
Johan Heldenberg : guitar, voice
Bjorn Eriksson : guitar, voice
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : voice
Nils de Caster : voice
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Lenn Dauphin : bass, voice
10. Cowboy Man
Johan Heldenberg : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : guitar, backingvocal
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : banjo
Nils de Caster : violin, backingvocal
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Lenn Dauphin : bass
11. If I Needed You
Johan Heldenberg : voice
Veerle Baetens : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : national guitar
Lenn Dauphin : bass
Nils de Caster : viool
12. Carved Tree Inn
Bjorn Eriksson : national guitars, bass
13. Sand Mountain
Bjorn Eriksson : dobro
Karl 'Hank van Damme' Eriksson : banjo
David Buyle : violin
Geert Waegeman : mandoline
Peter Pask : guitar
Lenn Dauphin : bass
14. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
Veerle Baetens : voice
Bjorn Eriksson : national guitar, banjo, string arrangement
To see what the film is about, we suggest you go to a local cinema or try to get to watch this flemish production. But for a sneak peek on the music, we add a video of one of the tracks the cast performed live on the World Soundtrack Awards Ceremony.
For more information on the soundtrack and the live tour, visit this website.
