Day 11: Film with Great Music
“The Great Escape” (1963) is my favourite non-musical choice! I wrote
before how it can be hard to explain why the film is a Christmas favourite for
a British male audience of a certain age, but the moment the opening
butter-biscuit landscapes roll up to the sound of the legendary Elmer Bernstein
intro, it really does make you wish it was a rainy or snowy day to complete
this very warm feeling. It has been said that the cheerful whistling Bernstein
theme unfairly plays down the serious terror of the events and the stark,
tragic shock of the escape – you feel it was no very great success as the men
become numbered fugitives in occupied Europe. But Bernstein’s rich
orchestrations musically tap into all kinds of emotions throughout the picture,
from private moments of hopeful humour, weak desperation or palpably
intimidating suspense, soft moments of human friendship to the exciting,
adventurous high of all the planning itself. And I guess one of the
overwhelming reasons it’s so easy to come back to this film can be compared to
the music’s major key: the confident belief of these allied/Allied men who try
and try for victory – that is the great escape Xo
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