5 Weird and Wonderful Movies About Music: Tops and Flops
Adam’s thoughts on campy, arty and experimental music movies like Phantom of the Paradise, Sound of Noise and more.
3,7 / 5,0 | 
The best and worst movies about music from Adam’s point of view. Do you agree with him?
Movies About Music
Welcome to Tops and Flops, a new weekly blog series where the editors of Gearnews reveal a little about their own lives and the things that are making and breaking their worlds. First up is me, Adam. When I’m not writing about synthesizers I’m usually watching movies so my Tops and Flops is all about the best and worst movies about music.
I say movies about music but really I should say “odd and experimental movies about music.” In the same way that I don’t listen to pop music, I certainly don’t have two or three hours to spend watching Marvel movies. I prefer the strange and thought-provoking, the weird and wonderful. Give me David Lynch or give me death.
With that in mind, here are some of my favorite – and least favorite – movies about music. Being a synth guy, I’ve tried to include films with synthesizers in them, or at least more unusual musical genres than just jazz or something. (Yes, I liked Whiplash but it doesn’t fit today’s bill.)
So here are five movies about music that I either love or loathe. What do you think of my list? Do you agree or vehemently disagree? Hit that caps lock button and let me know in the comments.
Sound of Noise: Tops
It’s hard to imagine a movie that is more me. Sound of Noise is a 2010 Swedish/French coproduction about a group of terrorist musicians who stage guerrilla percussion performances using found objects, like in an operating room (in the middle of surgery!) or a bank. Imagine Einsturzende Neubauten or the Blue Man Group but on a more intimate and interruptive scale and you have an idea of what to expect.
I knew I was going to love this movie when a drummer set up in the back of a moving van began to bang out a motorik beat. I mean, the film’s name was inspired by futurist Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto, The Art of Noises. Close to the edit, indeed.
Seek this out if you can. It’s certainly one of the best movies about music. I guarantee you’ll be inspired to make some noise yourself.
Phantom of the Paradise: Flops
I really wanted to like Phantom of the Paradise. I’m not against camp, per se. I think John Waters is a genius and there’s nothing like a Ken Russell film in full flight. However, Brain De Palma’s very 1974 mashup of Faust and Phantom of the Opera didn’t really do it for me.
However! You should still watch it because one, it has Jessica Harper from Suspiria in it, and two, that’s TONTO that the Phantom is playing. Check out the sequence below to see it in action (as well as a really noisy mixing desk). “Dolbies!”
Sound of Metal: Tops
As musicians and producers, we all have to take care of our hearing. As a tinnitus sufferer myself, I found Sound of Metal particularly moving. Having retired from DJing because of hearing issues, I can (and do) identify with anyone who has to give up what they love because of their ears.
That’s the story of Sound of Metal, although it’s much worse than just tinnitus happening here. With Riz Ahmed as a metal drummer and Olivia Cooke as his musical and romantic partner, the acting is incredible across the board. The filmmaking is top-notch as well.
Worth a watch no matter what genre of music you make.
Masters of the Universe: Flops
Haha, yes, I am going to talk about the Masters of the Universe movie. What does this have to do with music and synthesizers? Way too much, it turns out.
I didn’t see this when it first came, being 15 in 1987 and more concerned with Skinny Puppy and A Clockwork Orange than movies about toys. Watching it as an adult though, I was surprised not by how awful it was (and it is truly, truly awful) but by the weird synthesizer connection.
See, there’s a Cosmic Key (wasn’t that a trance group in the 1990s?) that lets you travel between dimensions by playing musical notes. A teenager finds it in present-day Los Angeles and, thinking it’s a synthesizer (even though it looks nothing like a keyboard) takes it to a music shop. When the shop gets destroyed in a laser battle – including racks and racks of synths – all I could think about were the poor Obies catching on fire.
If this description is making you want to watch the movie, don’t bother. Just check out this clip.
Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani?: Tops
One of my all-time favorite movies no matter the genre, Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani? is a little dystopian sci-fi, a little arthouse and very moving.
Despite what the title may lead you to believe (it’s Aramaic for My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?), Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani? is a Japanese film set in the near future where the world is being ravaged by a pandemic that makes people kill themselves. The only thing that keeps the virus at bay is noise music, and the film follows two noise musicians as they work in their studio, creating songs. The fact that the actors who play them are real-life musicians only makes it feel more real.
Eli Eli Lema Sabachthani? is an utterly unique movie and a must-watch for any musician. It’s truly one of the best movies about music.
The Shock of the Future: Tops or Flops?
This last one, The Shock of the Future, is a question mark as I haven’t seen it yet. I missed my chance when it was on streaming and now I’m kicking myself because I realized that the film was written and directed by Marc Collin, co-founder of the band Nouvelle Vague. I’m guessing that the synths in the movie belong to him. What a collection, it looks like.
Has anyone seen it? Is it good? Let me know in the comments.
More Information
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3 responses to “5 Weird and Wonderful Movies About Music: Tops and Flops”
32 Short films about Glenn Gould.
There are many excellent movies about music and musicians. But not indeed for someone who indulges in self-confined edginess.
200 Motels by Frank Zappa!