Saturday Music of Movie Going Memory

While moving about some music Cd's and trying to find space for other possessions, THE FUTURIST! found a large quantity of film scores or soundtracks. As often was the case, THE FUTURIST! would see a film and become pleased or impressed by the music in the film and then purchase the record or Cd after his viewing experience. This would happen with any Broadway show he may have seen. The purchasing of the music in a tangible form was (especially in the case of a stage performance) his only way of re-living what he may have felt emotionally while experiencing the live event. THE FUTURIST! does not do this as much as he once did ... due to cost, but also due to the fact that many of today's film scores are almost non-existent. So many films today are full of pop tunes and are not full bodied scores.

There were many soundtracks in THE FUTURIST!'s collection. The cover of each brought back many memories of his seeing the film. Many were played briefly for his mind to trigger why he may have purchased the music. One Cd was a forgotten film called YEAR OF THE COMET. THE FUTURIST! wondered why he owned it ... hmmm. However, once he played it he heard why it was in his home. The music brought it ALL back. It was a rich adventurous rousing score with hints of Celtic and/or Scottish personality. Ah, yes, he remembered it well ... the synapses fused with the spark of memory and happiness.

Another score was from the film THE CRYING GAME. This was a surprise hit from 1992 ... what they would call a "sleeper" film. It was nominated for Best Picture of 1992 along with A FEW GOOD MEN, SCENT OF A WOMAN, HOWARD'S END and the eventual winner UNFORGIVEN. IT was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and one win for Best Original Screenplay. The screenplay was rightly awarded in THE FUTURIST!'s opinion. It was a entertaining surprisingly layered thriller that ricocheted from one plot point to another and never had you saying, "What? Why? Who?" It all made delicious seamless sense. It held a huge surprise that THE FUTURIST! believes he had hints of before he saw it one Saturday afternoon. But, no matter ... it still dazzled him in its originality.

The discovery of the soundtrack to the film and its subsequent placement in THE FUTURIST!'s stereo player brought back the memory of that day he saw the film. He recalls seeing it alone and being so enthralled by the work that he immediately sought out the music to own ... mostly as a match to re-ignite his pleasure with his experience in the dark.

After seeing the film and buying the music, he had to visit a public library in a nearby town. He recalls it was an early March day in 1993 right before the annual presentation of the Academy Awards. (At that time the awards were presented in the early Spring ... late March or Early April. THE YOUNG FUTURIST!, who was a film lover almost from birth, always associated that time of year with the Oscars. Now, the show is presented in the winter due to the plethora of award shows and to shorten the barrage of over awarded indulgence.)

That early March day was still, technically, the winter time, but it was one of those days that hinted to what was to come soon ... beautiful breeze, a temperature that only required a light jacket or sweater ... the signs of flower bulbs seeming to nudge their way through the ground due to the change in temperature. THE FUTURIST! felt the change himself and felt, as is usually the case with the experience of seeing a good film, refreshed and optimistic. Certain films speak to us in often mysterious ways ... one may feel differently then another and this often leads to heated discussion, but being alone in his car and sitting with his window ajar listening to the music from the film he had just emotionally bathed in, made THE FUTURIST! care nought what anyone had to say about THE CRYING GAME. It was a feeling that he can hardly describe in retrospect. The feeling was the one that movies can create in our body chemistry ... no matter the type of film or story or acting or direction ... a feeling of personal euphoria and renewal. It is why THE FUTURIST! keeps watching films. Its a feeling that he and he feels most that truly love films wish to relive. A feeling that blocks out everything in your mind other than what you have just experienced.

The soundtrack to the film was a mix of pop music, pop standards and orchestral score composed by Anne Dudley that provided the "traditional" thriller suspense music we might associate with a film of this type. But, to call THE CRYING GAME a film of "that type" is a diversion of description.

Below is a sample of the more modern, perhaps disco influenced musical moments. It is a slowed down version of a piece entitled LIVE FOR THE DAY. THE FUTURIST! associates this, for some reason, with his most intense feelings for this film. It, more than any other piece from the film, evokes his memories of that afternoon in 1993. It sounds like a memory ... a haunting repetitive melody of a memory.

Listen:


LIVE FOR THE DAY (gospel version)
performed by Cicero and Sylvia Mason James
from the film THE CRYING GAME (1992)

THE FUTURIST!, also, provides you with the faster
version of the song that appears in the film, as well.