On 12/12/2013 04:36 PM, [email protected] wrote:
I'm of two minds about the use of existing serious music in films. On one hand, at least moviegoers get some exposure to it. On the other, it imposes a kind of sentimentality (positive and/or negative) on the music that is not native to it and that can impede genuine appreciation. The ultimate horrible example, for me, is the use of "Ride of the Valkyries" as background for the atrocities portrayed in /Apocalypse Now/. It's almost impossible to hear the music without the mental intrusion of images of helicopters slaughtering innocent Vietnamese civilians. Yes, both have to do with battles, but of very different types--one mythical and gloriously heroic, the other utterly depraved.
Coppola was using that piece to mock the war. Coppola's father was a professional musician and composer.
