OTR Review: ReScore

One of the most innovative events offered at On the Rocks, if not in St Andrews this year, Re-Score is an ambitious project. Soundtracks can be hit or miss, and some people don’t notice they’re there at all, so to write your own soundtrack to a film – particularly a ‘modern classic’ like No Country for Old Men is no mean feat.  

Admittedly, the Barron’s not huge, but the fact that people had to be turned away at the door shows an underestimation of how popular the event would be. The theatre space proved an ideal setting, though, with the stark black walls and small projector screen lending a clandestine, early cinema feel to the night – one might have been fooled, had it not been for the now-standard mobile phone warning. 

No Country for Old Men is a ‘modern’ western, and the soundtrack the group created reflected this. This was live music with a twist as subtle guitar chords mapped the barren Texan landscapes and stacatto drum beats pounded through the tense scenes of violence, adding a sense of foreboding the film itself lacks. The performers placed themselves behind a curtain, allowing much greater unity between screen and soundtrack and allowed viewers to focus on the film as opposed to being distracted watching for when the band would next kick in.

As I recently wrote, the music present in films is key to how they are received by the audience. You might have noticed No Country for Old Men doesn’t have a soundtrack per se, so if you want to write one, you have a certain duty of care to the film to ensure it still strikes the intended tone. The music has, to an extent, to ‘match’ the action that’s unfolding on screen, and this was done extremely well. 

Something I didn’t expect to leave with more appreciation was the closing credits. I know, right? Nobody stays for them. Well, at any time except this. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about No Country’s closing credits. There’s no blooper reel, just that endless list of everyone involved in making it. The original has no music, but this band of re-scorers played through the whole thing, right up to the production/distribution logos when the credits are done rolling.  

The rapturous cheers and applause they emerged to at the end said it all: this truly was a triumph. And if they’re willing to ‘ruin’ another film for themselves, I’m not the only one who’d be more than glad to hear what they have to play. 

Photo:Benoît Grogan-Avignon