So often when we talk about film, we talk about the people on either side of the camera. We talk about the great actors and actresses whose performances touch some deep part of our secret selves, revealing surprising truths we didn’t know we knew. We talk about the directors and cinematographers whose larger vision creates a world where those truths feel at home. But there is another behind-the-scenes artist whose work can make a film unforgettable, for good or for bad — the composer.
Consider just a few of the classic musical pieces that film has given us: Henry Mancini’s sly Pink Panther theme; the screeching violins from Psycho, or the two-note manifestation of dread that was John Williams’ great gift to Jaws. (See also, of course, Williams’ work in the Star Wars series.) These few examples are so potent that they transcend their original use, going beyond the screen and imprinting themselves on our culture at-large. I guarantee that many who have never heard of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns could still whistle a few bars of Ennio Morricone’s famous score work.
This Sunday, lovers of film music have a chance to peek behind the curtain when Film Scoring for a New Generation, the final event of this spring’s Fast Forward Film Series, comes to Historic Northampton for a 3 p.m. show. Film scoring students from the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School will present and discuss their work alongside teacher/mentor Rahul Roy and special guest saxophonist Erik Lawrence. The presentation, which will showcase music from sci-fi flicks, comedies, and more, culminates with a live musical performance from an original film score.
Roy, a London-born composer and guitarist, comes from a musical family and has spent many years exploring both improvised and composed music. Local film fans might remember his work in scoring the animated film The Adventures of Prince Achmed for a screening at Forbes Library in Northampton a few years back. Lawrence is a longtime professional musician who has shared the stage with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Elvis Costello. Together with Roy’s students, their presentation should serve to remind us that music in the movies is more than just background.
Also this week, Awake: The Life of Yogananda comes to Amherst Cinema for a Wednesday evening screening. Directed by Paola di Florio and Lisa Leeman, the film is a biography of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of the classic Autobiography of a Yogi, and the man perhaps most responsible for bringing yoga to the West in the early 20th century. Filmed over three years and in 30 countries, the film paints a portrait of a man whose ability to personalize ancient traditions helped introduce millions to a new spiritual path.
And finally this week, the Yiddish Book Center presents the double feature Borscht Belt Film Festival on Sunday, May 10, with screenings beginning at 11 a.m. First up is Welcome to Kutsher’s, an award-winning documentary named for the legendary Jewish resort Kutsher’s Country Club. Family-owned and -operated for over a century, the club is dubbed in the film “the Last Catskills Resort,” and is identified as an unheralded agent of change in American pop culture.
Following that is the ’80s classic Dirty Dancing, the Patrick Swayze smash that told the story of Johnny Castle, a working class dance instructor (Swayze), and the young resort guest with whom he develops a relationship. Crossing class and economic lines, their affair is most memorable for a quick piece of seating advice: “Nobody puts Baby in a corner.”•
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.
