The private disintegration of a marriage becomes a very public affair in Asghar Farhadi’s flawless domestic portrait.

Why the Italian icon of film music hears the term Spaghetti Western as an “insult”. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Silent film finds its voice in the modern age. Plus, see the complete list of Academy Award winners. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Ludovic Bource's acclaimed score for The Artist draws as much from Brahms as from Hitchcock.

Michelle Williams is beguiling as screen siren Marilyn Monroe in this true story of an on-set dalliance.

Fiennes transposes an obscure Shakespearean tragedy from Roman times to present-day Europe.

Following his stellar live album of Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf tunes, French-born master accordionist Richard Galliano turns to his Italian roots in a tribute to Nino Rota, marking the great film composer’s centenary in 2011. Captivated by these sumptuous scores ever since he saw La Strada at his local cinema in Nice as a child, Galliano brings the timeless creations of Fellini and Francis Ford Coppola vividly to life in his own jazz-tinged arrangements for quintet. With idiomatic playing from the band, especially Dave Douglas on trumpet, Rota’s melancholic themes lose none of their original romance and mystique, from The Godfather waltz (played on trombone, surprisingly, by Galliano) to the seductive opening of Amarcord. There are more upbeat and varied offerings: the soloist and his La Strada Quartet glide effortlessly from circus music to lounge, dirge to Latin dance – sometimes, dizzyingly, all in the one track – with a selection of themes and medleys cleverly interwoven to revisit motifs as a composer might do in a single film score.  Aside from the crisp ensemble work, Galliano’s instrument and its rich sound palette are most engaging when his stylish, virtuosic improvisations are allowed to soar… Continue reading Get unlimited…

The release of any new film score by John Williams is an event. Beginning with the grand Mahler-esque melodies of Indiana Jones and Superman, the American composer has created the most recognisable film music of all time. The Williams of Tintin, however, is less like Mahler and more like the dive bar on Tattoine from Star Wars – if it had been a French colony. The theme of Tintin the character is heavily swing-infused, with a walking double bass and a synthesised harpsichord (like something out of Mario Brothers) that may disappoint some listeners. The piano-driven Snowy’s theme is more fun, and sounds weirdly like one of Rachmaninov’s more chipper Paganini Variations. There is a chromatic, circus-like quality to all the proceedings here, with a clarinet and accordion introducing bungling detectives Thomson and Thompson. A moment of grandeur is introduced by Renée Fleming (as Mme Castelfiore) singing Ah, jeux vivre, with the final high C autotuned up to an F (to the sound of breaking glass). Williams’s ensuing variations on the melody of the aria are a witty touch. The Adventures of Tintin is perhaps not a piece of the stature of, say, Saving Private Ryan… Continue reading Get unlimited…

The crossover sensation says The Devil's Violinist was “the first rock star”.

The Artist manages to be both broadly accessible and sophisticated in its understanding of cinema.

Powerful, palpable and downright haunting, Martha Marcy May Marlene is a staggering cinematic achievement.

Bernstein's masterpiece screens at the Sydney Opera House with live orchestral backing.