Wednesday, 10 February 2010

Soundtrack Retrospective: "An hour ago a kid saw a fin off the north point. A fin with a nick in it. Stationary. Just waiting..."

I have John Ward to thank for reminding me of this one in his own round-up of memorable themes from last year;Michael Anderson’s ‘Orca, Killer Whale’ (1977), a film that came out two years after ‘Jaws’, and was considered a bit of a rip off as a result.

Certainly, the trailer helped to give that impression:



But it isn’t really just a story about cruel mankind and killer beast. It’s a story about sin and redemption. And the corrosive effects of vengence.

The haunting Ennio Morricone soundtrack is what, for me, makes this film memorable, though:



The main theme also had words, and was sung in the film by Carol Connors:



It's considered by fans of the film to be an inferior version of the purely instrumental title, but I rather like it. And the words so perfectly match the film's message.
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3 comments:

  1. Area Trace No Search10 February 2010 at 10:59

    I have to admit, although there is a movie buff in my house, it's not Mr Area... So the film quotes were a little wasted on me.

    I'll show them to Mrs Area though!

    As a reply to your comment on my blog, I quite agree about "yoof" not being a new thing. Just ask Papyrus...

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  2. Angry Exile10 February 2010 at 13:32

    Sorry but no matter what you think of the music it was still a shit film. More than twenty years since I saw it I'm still overcome with how shit it is to even remember what the music was like. On the other hand I hadn't seen A Fistful of Dollars for almost as long, but the other night I knew instantly when Mrs Exile randomly channel surfed to a network that was showing it because I recognised the music from the next room. Classic stuff, though The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is still my favourite.

    (And yes, I know that AFoD was a copy cat / 'inspired by' ;-) movie too. I'll find Yojimbo some day and compare the two.)

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  3. JuliaM11 February 2010 at 05:29

    "although there is a movie buff in my house, it's not Mr Area... So the film quotes were a little wasted on me."

    Oh dear. Ten to go, I'll have to choose more memorable ones. Which might be difficult, as some of my films are a little obscure! ;)

    "...I quite agree about "yoof" not being a new thing. Just ask Papyrus..."

    The suicide prevention charity? I'm not seeing the connnection, I'm afraid...

    "...no matter what you think of the music it was still a shit film. "

    Yesh, it's not Oscar material. But seeing some of those that did win, that isn't saying much!

    "..because I recognised the music from the next room."

    Some composers have that gift, but not many, sadly...

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