I love this movie, I gave it a 10 but one thing that bothered was the background music. The best example I can give is when Serpico is in the shoe shop, I found it really annoying, it took away from the movie somehow. It's a little complaint I know, but it has got to bother someone else too.
"I wrapped his ding-dong in seaweed and he's been smiling ever since!"
Agreed. Not only did a lot of it feel out of place in the context of a scene, it didn't seem to fit together as a score. It was almost like they pieced it together from pieces of different scores or something. At times it worked, but over all it did take a little away.
Couldn't agree more. It was just inappropriate. I've had to exact same feeling when watching the Outsiders, if any of you have seen it. That just didn't fit.
shareIt is almost as if the musical score was a complete after thought in the sound studio, edited by an over-zealous intern.
shareagree, but remember, it was 1973. we've come a long way in motion picture production.
share[deleted]
A long way ? In Music composition ???
What does "Film Production" have to do with Music composition ?
Most of the greatest Symphonic music was written LONG ago my ignorant friend and the score for Serpico was written by Mikis Theodorakis... a VERY highly regarded Greek composer.
Get the *beep* out of your ears and learn something about Art and Music before you make such a worthless, clueless dumb-ass comment.
I think what they really meant was that tastes and expectations in film scores were different at the time, and have since changed. People love to complain about 80's films' use of synthesizer scores, after all, but they were popular at the time.
Regardless, you are wrong about one thing. Film production has *EVERYTHING* to do with music composition if the music is written *FOR* a movie. The composer is chosen by the director, producer or the studio, and writes the music they believe will fit the film. Whether they're right or wrong in the long run is beside the point.
So unless Serpico's score was entirely stock, then it was written especially for this film, and how it turned out has everything to do with the decisions of the filmmaker(s) or studio. Saying there were good film scores before (and after) it doesn't alter this fact.
"I mean, really, how many times will you look under Jabba's manboobs?"
Yes, good point. There are films from this era and before that are really difficult for me to get into because the music is so blaring and melodramatic. In cases where a classic film's director and cinematographer were not really involved with choosing the music, it would be interesting to see Blu-rays offer an option to take the music out or at least bring it down in the mix.
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The highly regarded New York Times critic Vincent Canby agreed about the music. From his contemporaneous review:
Aside from a couple of romantic interludes that threaten to bring things to a halt, the only major fault of the film is the absolutely terrible soundtrack score by Mikis Theodorakis. It is redundant and dumb, the way English subtitles might be.
If you can stop up your ears to this musical nonsense, which includes Neapolitan street airs whenever Detective Serpico's Italian immigrant parents threaten to appear, you should find the film most provocative...
Agreed. It was like watching a little italy scene in a bad television show.
... She's fast enough for you old man
Ha, good simile. And if reports are true that Lumet wanted no music at all, imagine how he must have gagged.
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One thing (appropriateness of movie music) has nothing to do with the other ("evolution" of movie production).
A music score can be inappropriate in the 1910s, in the 1970s and in the 2500s. It has to do with artistic flare, insight, choices.
I'm afraid your comment is incredibly clueless.
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I think movie production has went backwards.
shareCall me crazy but I actually liked most of the music and thought it fit well with Pacino's character in the movie, though I won't fault anyone for not liking it. We're all entitled to our own opinions of course. =)
shareYep, you're crazy...but yep, you're entitled.
shareMy feelings on the music are totally mixed. I get 100% why people wouldn't dig it. Especially the shoe shop scene, it really did seem out of place. Also the scene when they brought the one guy into custody at the begining and Serpico was upset because the other cop took the collar. I actually liked the score, but it did seem a bit out of place at times.
shareI had a problem with the way it was filmed and edited. It's an awesome movie but there was no sense of time, the whole story took place over...what....10-15 years, I couldn't tell what year it was or what was going on exactly bc I had to keep turning it up and down bc they would start to whisper so i'd turn it up then they'd start yelling or loud music would play so i'd have to turn it down they they'd start whispering again then the editing was aweful but i still enjoyed the movie
One mans wife was another mans slut This has been a MomentofTruth brought to you by TheEvilMonkey.
You can DEDUCE the passage of time by dialogue and by the appearance of Pacino's character.
Good Gosh, movies do have to spell everything out for the masses...
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http://mulhollandcinelog.wordpress.com/
Or just look at the size of his dog.
Send lawyers,guns and money/The *beep* has hit the fan
At the begining of the picture Serpico was seen in pitch black of night and pouring rain being rushed to hospital. The newspaper office shots clearly show the clock at 10.45pm reporting his shooting.
The scene when he is actually shot is early in the quite of a bright morning completely dry. A gap of some 15 hrs elapsed in getting him to hospital.
what leads you to believe it was "the quiet of a bright morning"? i thought it looked like dusk, and dusk turns to darkness pretty quickly. maybe a little continuity issue, but a minor one IMO. and of course in the book it's clear there was not a 15 hour delay in transporting him to the hospital.
sharemaybe his colleagues "ummed" and "ahhed" about helping for a few hours!
shareJust for information the original theme of this movie composed by Mikis Theodorakis was nominated for a Grammy and a BAFTA award. The rest of the music was composed by Giacomo Puccini. The Original theme is one of my favorites as Theodorakis wrote a song using it too which is very powerfull and emotional.
shareEr, I think you got some things mixed up here. Giacomo Puccini is an Italian opera composer. I think Serpico plays his opera once in the garden and once in the car, that's all. All the score is by Theodorakis, as far as I know, and I think, it's not that bad aside from that shoe shop scene and a similar (or the same?) theme at the beginning, when they got their certificates, which are both meant to sound some kind of italian - to show his background, I suppose. Well, that wasn't necessary. But as said aside from that it's a typical, okay 70s jazz score; nothing special, but ok. And there is not that much music anyway.
and @ theevilmonkeycmp3: the core story (without the police school, the first arrest etc)- like 95% of the movie - takes only some years, not 10 to 15. I think maybe 3,4 years.
A good point but one thing which bothers me is how you can give a movie 10 out of 10 (i.e. flawless, perfect) and then have issues with the music, to the extent that you will post about it on the message board. As I say, totally agree about the music but dodgy rating.
Strange thing is they make such bloody good cameras...
Lumet himself stated he wanted no music at all. De Laurentis hadfinal edit though.
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Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib
Would be good if someone like Mark Isham or Hans Zimmer could re do the music for the film and make it HD. Would never happen but would be interesting.
shareFunny you mention Mark Isham, because speaking of bad film scores... Mark Isham’s score for “The Mechanic” was one of the worst I’ve heard in a very long while. The movie in general was bad enough that I ended up turning it off about 40 mins in, but before I did I had to double check who did the incongruous music. So please not him.
shareThe music almost ruined it for me too.
Theodorakis was a great musician but it was a complete mismatch.
Another thing - the band at the party seemed to be playing the same instrumental over and over all night.