:: soundtracks ::

I love movie soundtracks...from Lawrence of Arabia and Pulp Fiction to Akira Ikufube and Ennio Morricone! So let me tell you about the best of the soundtracks for the films of HIFF's Spring Showcase. We've got new rhythms from South Africa, old school punk rock from Japan, show tunes from Bollywood and some Spanish glam-rock covers, too!

THE PROPOSITION's score was composed by Australian counter-culture musician Nick Cave, who also co-wrote the script. The movie is a rugged Australian western with the ingredients of the Outback, conflict with Aboriginals, bushranger and featuring David Wenham and Guy Pearce. But this is no BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN. "Let's get this straight," Nick says, "there's no gay sex in our western." Read a great interview with Nick or a review of the score. Preview the album on iTunes.
PARINEETA, based on the classic novel of the same name by legendary Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, thrilled audiences at this year's Berlin Film Festival. German audiences were humming the famous song Piyu Bole as they exited the theatres. The soundtrack is a fusion of Broadway and Bollwood. Yes, there are teems of kids singing in unison. But there are also songs like Kaisi Paheli Zindagani (listen), a brassy showtime belted out cabaret style. More streaming previews are available here.

LINDA LINDA LINDA's soundtrack features an all-schoolgirl cover of the eponymous hit song from the 80s Japanese punk band, THE BLUE HEARTS. Citypages reports that it's the best incessant use of a diabolically catchy tune since Wong Kar-wai put "California Dreamin'" on a loop for Chungking Express. Audiences proclaimed LINDA...the unofficial theme song of the Tornonto International Film Festival. But in the sic transit gloria mundi department, Nintendo snagged the song for the DS video game Ouendan in 2005. LINDA... also stars Shiori Sekine of the j-rock band Base Ball Bear! Finally, Punk News has a sweet story about a young gaijin's first encounter with LINDA LINDA LINDA on the streets of Shinjuku, along girl named X-ko.

ZOZO, Sweden's choice for Best Foreign Film for the 2005 Academy Awards, is the most traditional movie score of the titles mentioned herein. But the score is cinematic and sweeping in its scope, and is evocative even when separated from its images. The composer "has a sound all his own, but the subtlety and beauty of his melodies and his understanding of non-Western instruments certainly recall what both Mychael and his brother Jeff Danna have been doing for some years. Nordén carefully crafts his universe with a sad piano, a soft duduk, the occasional guitar, even a choir, and a toned down string ensemble."

TSOTSI screens on March 31 as part of our Opening Night! The film features several tracks by South African legend Zola (a.k.a., the king of kwaito) who also acts in the film as the gangster Fela. Kwaito music hasn't reached critical mass in pop culture consciousness, but it's an amazing post-apartheid fusion of American hip-hop with African political themes.

"Kwaito music is a distinctly homegrown style of popular dance music that is rooted in Johannesburg's urban culture. It features rhythmically recited vocals over an instrumental backing with strong bass lines. Like American hip-hop, it is an expression of urban South African youth; it is the voice of the township." Want to learn more?

And the Spanish covers of David Bowie? Go see 20 CENTIMETERS! I don't have any links to the previews!