Like all stories, the power of cinema comes from the ability to completely immerse the audience in the world of the film, andone of the ways movies do this is through music. When it comes to music, that would usually mean matching the songs with the time period the movie takes place in, right? Well, not necessarily. Sometimes a director deliberately chooses a song that seems strangely out-of-place for the year of the movie’s setting.
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This could mean a modern pop song showing up in a period piece, or a piece of classical music juxtaposed against a contemporary story. Handled poorly and this could be distracting. But if done well, the music might not only work well within the movie but may actually make it even better.
8Marie Antoinette
One of the most famous and controversial uses ofanachronistic music popping up in moviescomes from Sofia Coppola’s period dramaMarie Antoinette. The story follows the life of the doomed Queen of France Marie Antoinette, played by Kirsten Dunst. It’s almost cliche to associate big, epic historical dramas with classical music of the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Coppola, however, swings hard in the opposite direction.
Instead of music that matched the time period, Coppola used a host of modern pop songs to score the movie. The soundtrack includes everything from “I Want Candy” by Bow Wow Wow to “Plainsong” by The Cure. The heavy reliance on pop songs understandably drew divisive reactions from critics and audiences, but Coppola’s intent was never to accurately capture history. Instead, she focused on capturing the young spirit of Marie Antoinette, and these songs perfectly encapsulate how someone like Antoinette might have seen the world.
7Last Night in Soho
Edgar Wright movies almost always have excellent soundtracks. Since the ’60s are a big part of Edgar Wright’s recent horror movie, he had the perfect excuse to include a host of fantastic music from the decade.Last Night in Sohofollows a young girl obsessed with the ’60s who seems to travel to that decade in her sleep. While part of the movie does take place in the ’60s, most of it is set in the present.
Protagonist Ellie is defined by her love of ’60s music. Peter & Gordon’s “A World Without Love” perfectly introduces the character as she dances around her room listening to the song. As her horrific vision of the ’60s begins to bleed into the present, the chorus of “(There’s) Always Something There To Remind Me” by Sandie Shaw times up perfectly with some of the scene’s biggest reveals. Of course,“Last Night in Soho” by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tichplays over the film’s credits, now slightly creepier given the film’s context. These are only some highlights as ’60s favorites are littered throughout the movie.
6Django Unchained
It should surprise practically no one that Tarantino’s western throws out the rules of the genre entirely. Following a freed slave and a bounty hunter teaming up to free the slave’s wife, Tarantino’s vision of the old west is highly stylized and revisionist, never taking itself too seriously. It’s fitting, then, that the film’s soundtrack doesn’t either.
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The title character is introduced with “Django” by Rocky Roberts and Luis Bacalov, a reference to the 1966 filmDjangoand a perfect tone-setter. Some of the film delves into fantastic scores written by the legendary late composer Ennio Morricone, though the rest of the movie is scored with songs even more modern than that. Jim Croce’s “I’ve Got A Name” plays as Django assumes his newfound freedom with Shultz. During the big shootout at Candyland, “Unchained” by James Brown and 2Pac makes the scene feel as though it dropped out of a modern action movie. Probably the most noticeable use of anachronistic music comes from “100 Black Coffins”, written for the film by Rick Ross. Though a modern rap song might seem out-of-place, it perfectly captures Django’s attitude as he assumes a fake identity to fool the plantation-owning antagonist.
5Drive
This hit from director Nicolas Winding Refnis a unique blend of arthouse drama and nail-biting thriller. Ryan Gosling plays an unnamed getaway driver who helps to pay off his neighbor’s debt by taking part in a risky heist that goes badly. Dripping with style, Refn scores the movie both with a traditional film score and modern electric songs.
While most of the songs used were released within a few years of the film’s timeline, one song in particular sticks out: “Oh My Love” by Riz Ortolani, which was released back in 1972. Most of the other songs are electronic in nature, while “Oh My Love” is a soft love ballad composed primarily of vocals and string instruments. The song plays over a crucial moment in the film, as the Driver discovers that one of the key characters has been killed. The song then continues as he follows one of the main antagonists, eventually exploding in violence in the final few moments. It’s an unusually poignant moment in an otherwise harsh and violent movie, and it’s all the better for it.
4Jojo Rabbit
Director of the upcomingThor: Love and ThunderTaika Waititiearned his first Oscar for writing this off-beat World War II satire about a young boy living in Nazi Germany. While also featuring an original score, Waititi also uses several German covers of songs from later decades that help show Jojo’s childlike view of Germany’s dark history.
The opening of the film is shot to a German version of “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles. It’s used against historical footage of Hitler along with shots of Jojo himself, which helps establish the way the child idolizes Hitler at the beginning of the movie. The film also perfectly closes with a German version of “Heroes” by David Bowie, as Jojo and Elsa celebrate the end of World War II. Along with these,Jojo Rabbitfeatures songs from many artists of later decades, including Roy Orbison and Tom Waits.
3Blade Runner 2049
While most entries here take place in the past or the present,Blade Runner 2049is the rare movie to feature historical music while set in the future.A sequel to Ridley Scott’s classic,Blade Runner 2049follows replicant K as he begins to uncover a dark truth that followed the events of the first film. Hans Zimmer’s score easily lives up to Vangelis’s original, though director Denis Villeneuve also employs several classic rock and instrumental music to make this sci-fi thriller even more engrossing.
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Much of the soundtrack comes in a crucial scene in the latter half of the movie, where K fights Deckard. Fighting in a casino, blips of holographic performances from artists such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra are briefly played. The scene is otherwise absent of music, and these small moments just add an extra bit of tension to an already brilliant scene. The movie also makes regular use of the instrumental classic “Peter and the Wolf” by Segei Prokofiev, playing a small portion of Peter’s theme whenever K boots up his AI girlfriend Joi. Finally, “Tears in Rain” by Vangelis is lifted from the originalBlade Runner, also used to a powerful effect here.
2Inglourious Basterds
Tarantino’s exploration of historical revisionism began with thisunique and memorable World War II war filmabout a team of Jewish-American soldiers on a mission to kill Hitler himself. Much likeDjango Unchained, the fun ofInglourious Basterdscomes from it not taking itself too seriously, and bringing some much-needed justice to some of the world’s darkest history. And also likeDjango Unchained, Tarantino hardly sticks to the World War II-era of music when scoring this adventure.
The movie opens with “The Verdict” by Ennio Morricone, composed for 1967 westernThe Big Gundown; the song itself also utilizes Beethoven’s famous piano piece “Fur Elise”, building tension to the reveal of antagonist Hans Landa. Many Morricone tracks from ’60s westerns are used throughoutInglourious Basterds, as he was originally set to compose the film’s score. While many other songs are used, probably the most notable is the use of David Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting Out Fire)” from the 1982 filmCat People. The song plays as the characters prepare to attack the theater where Hitler and all the high-ranking Nazis are attending a film screening; if anything, the song adds an extra layer of suspense as Tarantino builds to his surprising climax.
1Guardians of the Galaxy
It’s rare for a Marvel movie to include licensed music, and even rarer for such music to be a defining characteristic of their movie. WithGuardians of the Galaxyand its sequel, it’s pretty much impossible to separate the sci-fi spectacle fromthe ’70s and ’80s rock that accompanies it.
Despite taking place in the present,Guardians of the Galaxydefines itself with rock music from older decades, which not only perfectly encapsulates Peter Quill’s personality but also sets the quirky tone for both movies. “Come and Get Get Your Love” by Redbone offers a perfect introduction to Peter while also setting the tone with the film’s opening titles. “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways also helps set the tone while also leading up to the big finale, where Peter eventually performs a dance-off to “O-o-h Child” by Five Starships before eventually closing out with the film with Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. Both of theGuardians of the Galaxymovies make fantastic use of era-specific music, which is one of the reasons that they’re a joy to watch.
