Michael Mann, Audioslave and Pandora
Michael Mann has a way with storytelling. Here's a guy who eschews the non-stop action thriller pace of say, Steven Spielberg, for moments in film that allow both characters and viewers moments of introspection. Moments accompanied, of course, by a killer soundtrack.
Made famous by Miami Vice and refined in many of his slick flicks like Heat and The Insider, Collateral is perhaps the best example to date of Mann's ability to let audiences interpret critical moments in the storyline using little more than music and cinematography.
A killer track + a cityscape = a moment inside the character's mind.
There's Max in the cab - struggling with his place in life as he has for much of the film. He lies to himself and to others about his plans and dreams, and we come to understand that Max isn't really going anywhere. When Vincent catches Max in his concocted version of reality and forces him to come to grips with his seemingly meaningless existence, there's dialogue between them, but then it all stops.
Cue "Shadow of the Sun" by Audioslave.
Max thinks for a moment, then he gets it.
The cab accelerates.
The music plays on.
We get it: Things are different.
The cab accelerates. Crash!
While other filmmakers might have used the same sequence (dialogue, speed run, crash), I can't think of any who allow both characters and viewers to reflect on the situation the way Mann does.
Call it a pregnant pause. Call it what you will. I think it rocks.
As Jason Hughes puts it, "The struggle against this threatening mindset is highlighted in Audioslave's music. While the song is playing, Max accepts Cruise's character's nihilistic worldview and intentionally crashes the car that they are both riding in. "What's the difference?" he says before the car crashes. His actions show a transition into Vince’s (Tom Cruise) way of thinking: "There's no good reason, there's no bad reason to live or to die ... Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars and a speck on one in a blink. That's us. Lost in space."
The same scenario would play out when Sonny and Rico would cruise in the Dino, Testarossa or cigarette boat. De Niro and Pacino did the same while cruising in Heat.
Having heard the Audioslave track "Shadow of The Sun" and remembering how much it rocks, I wanted to listen to it this morning. So, I dialled up Pandora, entered the track name and 5 songs into my new Audioslave "station," there it was.
Perfect.
====================
Audioslave
"Shadow of The Sun"
Once upon a time
I was on a mind to lay your burden down
And leave you where you stood
You believed I could
You’d seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
And tell you what you saw
And never say a word
But now that is gone
Over with and done
And never to return
I can tell you why
People die alone
I can tell you why
The shadow on the sun
Staring at the loss
Looking for the cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you on
The shadow on the sun
Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lived inside my skin
I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you on
The shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Sun
Sun
Monday, December 19, 2005
 Comments:
|
