Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET

[Chris Knipp]

Those are interesting anecdotes, Johann, but I don't think they particularly illustrate the genius of Kubrick's use of music in his films. The fact that he has a complete set of Deutsche Grammophon classical albums, or that he plugged the Beatles, or used a cool Chris Isaak song that you particularly liked, hardly illustrate the cinematic brilliance and orignality of his use of music in his movies. What I was talking about was a uniquely original coordination of sound and image; Kubrick's ability to find a perfect piece of music to back up (1) the dawn of tool-making, (2) the smooth flight of a space ship, (3) the antics of young hooligans in a way that is startling, but seems perfectly right once you see it; that makes the sequence unforgettable, not so much for the music itself, but for the juxtaposition of that music with those images. To some extent Tarantino has that ability too, though his penchant for 70's and 80's pop/soul nostalgia limits him in a way that Kubrick wasn't.