The Icelandic composer Johan Johannsson ist part of my early morning show „Klanghorizonte“ next Saturday – with his soundtrack for the excellent thriller PRISONERS. In an interview, he was asked about his favourite films and soundtracks.
– What made you “notice” music in films?
– I remember seeing 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) in the cinema when I was quite young and I remember the music affecting me strongly.
– On that note—what are some of your favorite movies, ever?
– Most of them tend to have strong scores. I love VERTIGO. It’s the pinnacle of the Hitchchock/Herrmann collaboration. I love some of David Lynch’s and Badalamenti’s collaborations, BLUE VELVET, MULHOLLAND DRIVE and TWIN PEAKS, especially. I like David Cronenberg’s films. I’m a big fan of East European cinema, Bela Tarr, for example. Tarkovsky is great, of course. Since I live in Denmark, I can’t leave out Lars Von Trier, who’s done some amazing work.
– If you could re-score any existing movie, which one(s) would you choose, and what do you think you would bring to them? (Especially older films?)
– I think great films are great partly because the have great scores, so I’m not sure I would like to re-score any of my favorite films – it would feel wrong somehow. I have written new music for silent films, including Pudovkin’s THE END OF ST. PETERSBURG (1927) and Pabst’s PANDORA’S BOX (1929). I really enjoyed doing that – it’s a way of re-interpreting these films for a new audience. Also, silent films were meant to be screened with live music, so it feels like a very natural way of presenting this work.