INDEX
The Characteristic Soundscapes in Bellocchio’s Films
Bellocchio is also highly regarded for his characteristic use of music. He has made many vivid allusions to existing music, not only classical, but also to the aforementioned “Hello, Night,” which had a particularly strong impact on the audience. In particular, the sequence in which Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky” is superimposed on the hallucinatory images seen by the main character Chiara, as well as “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” (also by Pink Floyd) and “The Great Gig in the Sky” (also by Pink Floyd) were particularly impressive. On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd, was so overwhelmingly powerful that I would say it was the best moment of my personal “film x music” experience in my lifetime.
What about the use of music in this film? First of all, I would like to mention the wonderful original score by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso, a young composer who also composed the music for Bellocchio’s latest film “Edgardo Mortara: The Strange Fate of a Boy,” which was released this spring (in reverse order of its theatrical release in Japan). The score, which is both profound and honest, a rarity in films these days, plays an important role in sustaining a suspenseful mood throughout the film (he won the title of composer of the year at the Puglia Soundtrack Awards for his score to this film).
On the other hand, the number of existing songs used is not large, and given the length of the film, it is rather quite small. However, the richness of the connotations contained in them (or so the viewer is led to imagine) can only be described as the Verrocchio style.
As for the use of classical references, Verdi’s music, which has been used frequently in his previous works, is again used in important scenes in this production. Paul VI’s vision of Moro performing the so-called “Wayfarer of the Cross” to the tune of “The Day of Wrath,” one of the most famous mass pieces in the famous “Requiem,” is one of the most sublime and profound images in this work. This scene is one of the most sublime and profound images in the film.
If we know that this piece was originally written by Verdi to commemorate the Italian poet, writer, and political thinker Alessandro Manzoni, we cannot help but feel the connection with the Passion-filled figure of Moro, which is extremely suggestive.
Also noteworthy is the scene in which the founding members of the “Red Brigade” are put on trial. Despite the harsh prosecution, the members of the Red Brigades remain firm in their stance, and together with their sympathizers they sing the famous revolutionary song “The International”. The song itself is not particularly surprising, since it has been depicted in many films in various forms in which leftist activists from the East and West have sung this song. What is noteworthy here is that the song, which was originally sung a cappella by the defendants and their sympathizers in the courtroom, is now accompanied by a magnificent accompaniment that appears offscreen before long.
In short, the “imaginary accompaniment,” which should not be possible from the standpoint of realism, covers the soundscape of the film as if it were a matter of course (and with an “on” quality that gives the illusion that it is actually playing in the film’s setting). At first glance, this scene may seem casual, but in the sense that this part of the film skillfully exposes the arbitrariness of the external direction that inevitably accompanies the act of “storytelling” through the music (and the way it is added), does it not also demonstrate the singular and meta-authority of the great master Bellocchio?
