OK....I just watched Guardians of the Galaxy, for the first time (I know timing...) and somehow kept myself out of the gaze of spoilers for a year so I that I ruin it for myself and I am glad I did that since I got to witness the awesomeness that is Peter Quill's Awesome Mix Vol's 1&2. Though, if we really take a look back, its definitely not the first time famous hit songs of yesteryears have been used in films. So the question here is, what makes an arrangement of random songs resonate with us as an audience into what I believe, one of the most inventive uses of soundtrack in film ?
A movie's soundtrack does wonders to define its tone, to drive home points in the movie. And Guardians takes full advantage of that fact through its Awesome Mix with its arrangement of light-hearted yet emotional mix of both rhythmic and soothing songs that prepares you for an adventure, couple that with clever tonal shifts and its impact is fully realised(eg. that intro feat. 'Come and Get your Love' by Redbone). However, if you remember, Watchmen (2009) was also going for a similar thing by using 'period-appropriate' pop music for setting its tone and it did that very well. However, what was different is that each song in that was pretty much used in isolation to add a layer of emotion to events in the story, unlike Guardians, where its soundtrack goes beyond the plot of the movie itself, as I shall explain further
Where most soundtracks in film (meaning cherry-picked songs, not original soundtracks) most of the time is used to set a mood or too depict a certain situation, However, what Guardians has to its advantage is its setting, space, and it is really far away from Earth. The director James Gunn explained in the commentary on the blu-ray that he wanted to use the cassette as a link or his attachment back to the Earth. Even if we do not see the Earth, the Awesome Mix acts as our little memento of Earth and I believe that sets-up a really great context for the movie that makes us realise that we are indeed in a far place, but because of the music it makes the world seem to us more Earthly because it attaches us right back to Earth and makes us forget about poisonous lizards or talking genetically Raccoons. Also as a bonus, through this Mix-tape, it also touch upon the point that music transcends species where they may not understand the words but the rhythm and melody is just something that they intrinsically connect to, like the Mean Guard.
The idea behind the Awesome Mix in the context of Quill was that it served as an attachment to his mother, who died of cancer and (metaphorically speaking) that through music she was still able to communicate to him. Again paraphrasing from the commentary, Gunn said that the all the songs that were put in the cassette represented her character, which can be seen in the form of a mix upbeat, energetic and soothing rhythms that illustrate a hopeful and optimistic character. That in itself is an example of a very clever usage of soundtrack, but when I was browsing through the official listing of songs given in the mix, I noticed something. For anyone who has seen the movie, you will know about Peter's 'questionable' ancestry, and if you look closely at the official order of the playlist for the Awesome Mix Vol.1 you can notice that it tells the story of Quill's mother meeting and falling in love with 'someone' and her being abandoned with Peter, her feelings about the whole thing and raising him as a single parent with help from his grandparents, while she still remains hopeful for a better future. Trust me pay attention to the lyrics and the themes in the song's themselves, you can notice as well. Now, I could very well could be over-thinking, but if this is true, then my mind is blown, it is fascinating as to how a bunch of seemingly random songs can be put together in order to tell a coherent story. This kind of subtlety is what puts this Mix in high praise in my eyes.
I think we really can learn something from this, to use soundtrack not only to set a mood or a situation but also using it as a tool for character development. Trying to string together a bunch of random songs to convey a singular emotion can be a very hard task and it gets harder once you decide that the same group of songs will be used to serve a variety of functions other than what it is usually implemented for, it went the extra mile in terms of what period soundtrack can be used for and hence goes beyond than just setting a tone, but increasing immersion in a whole new way. Such little touches is what makes the Awesome Mix great and also the general world-building of the movie awesome that even the littlest of things/ideas in the movie which appear for seconds has several pages worth of thought put into it. Furthermore, it seems that James Gunn has announced that he has selected all the songs in Awesome Mix Vol 2. for the sequel as well, and as for many fans, I am very excited as to revisiting this 'awesome' world.
Where most soundtracks in film (meaning cherry-picked songs, not original soundtracks) most of the time is used to set a mood or too depict a certain situation, However, what Guardians has to its advantage is its setting, space, and it is really far away from Earth. The director James Gunn explained in the commentary on the blu-ray that he wanted to use the cassette as a link or his attachment back to the Earth. Even if we do not see the Earth, the Awesome Mix acts as our little memento of Earth and I believe that sets-up a really great context for the movie that makes us realise that we are indeed in a far place, but because of the music it makes the world seem to us more Earthly because it attaches us right back to Earth and makes us forget about poisonous lizards or talking genetically Raccoons. Also as a bonus, through this Mix-tape, it also touch upon the point that music transcends species where they may not understand the words but the rhythm and melody is just something that they intrinsically connect to, like the Mean Guard.
The idea behind the Awesome Mix in the context of Quill was that it served as an attachment to his mother, who died of cancer and (metaphorically speaking) that through music she was still able to communicate to him. Again paraphrasing from the commentary, Gunn said that the all the songs that were put in the cassette represented her character, which can be seen in the form of a mix upbeat, energetic and soothing rhythms that illustrate a hopeful and optimistic character. That in itself is an example of a very clever usage of soundtrack, but when I was browsing through the official listing of songs given in the mix, I noticed something. For anyone who has seen the movie, you will know about Peter's 'questionable' ancestry, and if you look closely at the official order of the playlist for the Awesome Mix Vol.1 you can notice that it tells the story of Quill's mother meeting and falling in love with 'someone' and her being abandoned with Peter, her feelings about the whole thing and raising him as a single parent with help from his grandparents, while she still remains hopeful for a better future. Trust me pay attention to the lyrics and the themes in the song's themselves, you can notice as well. Now, I could very well could be over-thinking, but if this is true, then my mind is blown, it is fascinating as to how a bunch of seemingly random songs can be put together in order to tell a coherent story. This kind of subtlety is what puts this Mix in high praise in my eyes.I think we really can learn something from this, to use soundtrack not only to set a mood or a situation but also using it as a tool for character development. Trying to string together a bunch of random songs to convey a singular emotion can be a very hard task and it gets harder once you decide that the same group of songs will be used to serve a variety of functions other than what it is usually implemented for, it went the extra mile in terms of what period soundtrack can be used for and hence goes beyond than just setting a tone, but increasing immersion in a whole new way. Such little touches is what makes the Awesome Mix great and also the general world-building of the movie awesome that even the littlest of things/ideas in the movie which appear for seconds has several pages worth of thought put into it. Furthermore, it seems that James Gunn has announced that he has selected all the songs in Awesome Mix Vol 2. for the sequel as well, and as for many fans, I am very excited as to revisiting this 'awesome' world.
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