Satyajit Ray: The finest film maker.

[P_R]

enakku kooda dhaan Goundamani pudikkin.
avar illAinnA padaththukku periya izhappunnu solluvEn.
AnA avar 'essential'nu solla oru thayakkau

[Bala (Karthik)]

"I have now come to the point where I use less and less music.Music is something that I always feel is..er... up to a point dispensible element. One uses music more with the public in mind than anything else, because one is afraid that the public will not be able to ...uh... 'get' the mood of a certain scene and you want to underline it so they don't miss it, which is unfortunate, but you have to do it." - 1984 interview (Interviewer Shyam Benegal)

KV, indha vishayathula naama ore saving set-a irundhaalum, it's difficult to argue against this point, if you look at it from the OnAi's (or purists') point of view.

How did people like Kubrick, Kurosawa look at music in their films?

[P_R]

I like his anxiety about communicating. பயபுள்ளையளுக்கு புரியவைக்கிறதுக்கு என்னல்லாம் செய்ய வேண்டி இருக்கு
At the same time he talks about 'life-like' dialogue, cutting out the Victorian sentimentality of Tagore (he says those very words...namma oorla aRuvaa dhaan)
He talks about how he realized 'logical' flaws when adapting a screenplay so he changed the story (he is talking about Bengali literature stalwarts!!).
Logical 'ங்கறாருங்க. நெஞ்சுக்குள்ள மனுஷன் சோஃபா போட்டு உக்காருவார் போல இருக்கே

[P_R]

One makes a film with a sort of ideal audience in mind. And one hopes that what one likes, gets excited about finds absorbing, there will be an audience to have the same sort of reactions to the film once it is made

[KV]

iyyahO! I was just legga-fulling'nga, P_R.

Meesic, no meesic and all left completely to the filmmaker’nga. If he can create the visuals that don't need any additional accentuation, it’s perfectly fine, there’s nothing to whine. Fassbinder, Kieslowski are few names that immediately pop up in mind. Ray and Adoor, too, generally use a very minimal score.
OTOH, there are guys who feel that music adds an extra dimension to their storytelling – sapAdu pOttu, ootiyum vidarAnga na, venAmna solluvOm?
To me, its first how less distracting it is, and, then of course, its at looking how they have conceived and incorporated this extra component into their story telling. A guitar playing on lazily somewhere in the background, enhances the backdrop beautifully when Kurosawa establishes the setting in Drunken Angel. And we already know the volume of stuff written on Clockwork Orange’s score.
This and all creative decisions – idhula karuththu solla naan karuththu kandasAmy illa.

[P_R]

Excellent 14 part intree of Satyajit Ray by Shyam Benegal. First one here:

[Plum]

musicE thEvai illainA solRAr? avarE BGM-lAm pOturukkArE...
I have read that he only had reservations about XXXX Khans' aalaps as BGM in his first two movies. ingE pArthA vERa mAdhiri solRAr.

Music sariyA illainA me divorce moviesyA. Proper BGM illainA padamE pudikkaRadhillai. Would I like Hey Ram, Udhiri PookkaL without the music? mhmmm....can't imagine. avaru eduththa padathukku vENA music thEvai illainu avaru sollikkattum.
BTW, KV, nammALu, Adoorukku kooad minimal BGM elLAm koduthirukkAru. avaru Ray-kkum sariyA vandhirupPArunga - vAippilLAma pOchu.

Musicai pazhikkaravan only fit for treason and strategems-nu seshappa iyer solli irukkAr(thOrAyamA - I am misquoting for effect).

[rajraj]

Musicai pazhikkaravan only fit for treason and strategems-nu seshappa iyer solli irukkAr(thOrAyamA - I am misquoting for effect).

The man that hath no music in himself,
Nor is not moved by concord of sweet sounds
Is fit for treasons,strategems and spoils

[kid-glove]

A man who had painstakingly reversed haydn & sibelius to use as BGM shouldn't be saying this. But then again I've almost never seen him use the score to its utmost potency, in perfect harmony with images, like a Visconti or Kubrick.

But of course, he's right in saying that BGM is dispensable. But then lovers of purest form of cinema, the silent era, would argue that sound itself could be dispensed with. Perhaps then we'd have less abusers of visual medium. Hacks would stop being filmmakers. Other medium gypsies would be weeded out. We'd know who "owns" the film.

[P_R]

A man who had painstakingly reversed haydn & sibelius to use as BGM shouldn't be saying this.

Explain with appropriate annotations (10 marks)

Proper BGM illainA padamE pudikkaRadhillai.

This too much.
Of course, edhukku padam pAkkaNum, pusthagam padikkalaamE etc. is where this will lead do.

I posted here because I thoroughly enjoyed the way he responded to questions.
indha ezhavu audience-kku purinju tholaikkaradhu illai. adhunaala sila tayaum meesic pOdavENdi irukkudhu. Very unfortunate.
He seem to regard the mood-underscoring business akin to adding a laughter track.

Of course I liked that he did not seem to regard (atleast in this interview) the BGM itself as central to overall aesthetic appeal, but as an 'effective' tool. But more than that, I liked the fact that he was so anxious that the audience precisely get the mood that he is trying to convey. I felt like saying: "Good, appadi thaan irukkaNum. Keep it up".

>digression>

fit for treason and strategems-nu seshappa iyer solli irukkAr

Stephen Fry quoted this article about people who don't enjoy Wodehouse - apparently the words themselves are a favourite of Wodehouse. Look at me
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