MovieChat Forums > Carlos (2010) Discussion > new wave / post-punk songs

new wave / post-punk songs

posted 13 years ago by tweeky
22 replies | jump to latest

i loved the new wave / post-punk tracks by some of my favorite 80s bands in this miniseries: wire, new order, a certain ratio, the feelies, the dead boys, the lightning seeds.

but most of them seemed to be very out of place in this movie, they were sort of arbitrary stuck on top of the scenes, with little or no chronological sense and seemed to be lyrically disconnected from the scenes they were soundtracking.

also, given the subject matter (and the tastes of the person who chose those tracks) i was surprised i didn't hear anything by Gang of Four, i think they would have made perfect lyrical sense to any scene in this miniseries.

[–] TheZoolooMaster 13 years ago

Pop music lyrics rarely say anything meaningful at all, and in any case the viewer isn't expected to direct his attention to what is being sung. I'm far from an expert on this music, but I assumed that they songs played were of the same epoch as the events in the film. In any case, they serve to establish a mood -- sometimes excitement and action, sometimes fear or chaos.

[–] amd8404 13 years ago

Actually my sense is that most of the songs used in the film were released in the 80s, while the majority of the events take place before 1980. That's excepting the songs that are used diegetically, such as The Dead Boys' Sonic Reducer, which plays in the car just before Nada is arrested. That was released around the right time for that event, but for some reason I doubt it would have made it to East Europe within a year of release. Although I'm not basing that on anything besides random speculation.

I'm not sure how I feel about the use of these artie post punk songs. My instinct is that they're there as an unearned glamorization of the events (such as what I believe is a song by the Cure that plays when Carlos throws a bomb into a bank doorway) but on the other hand, Assayas could have chosen more iconic punk songs than he did if that was his goal. Anyway, they work to establish a mood of disorder and they seem carefully chosen so I suspect there's a logic at work in their use in the film.

I also agree that Gang of Four wouldn't have been out of place here. Sofia Coppola used Natural's Not In It to a great anachronistic and ironic effect in Marie Antoinette.

[–] Clift 11 years ago

I agree with most things you say, but when it comes to Dead Boys, 'Sonic Reducer' is played near the German-Swiss border in the movie, and obviously stems from Swiss radio.

[–] TheBellyofaVandelay 13 years ago

Post Punk is not mere "pop" garbage; both Wire and Gang of Four have some pretty good lyrics all around. Check them out.

[–] kaligula 13 years ago

Finally someone with some damn sense around here! lol.

[–] sonofindiandelta 13 years ago

This had awesome music all around.

[–] ddcraver 13 years ago

With tweeky 110% on this - loved the tracks, however they are completely out of place...

[–] Orbtastic 13 years ago

Yeah, definitely. I think the Lightning Seeds song is about the closest it comes to being from the right era but I think even that's about 2 years out of sync.

[–] dammmitdoll2k2 13 years ago

When they played "Ahead" by Wire, I nearly fell off the couch. It is one of my favorite songs of all time and I have never heard it on any movie soundtrack. But for it to be included in a miniseries that takes place in the mid-1970s is a little disconcerting. I wonder why they didn't use music of that era, such as glam, krautrock, and proto-punk like Bowie, Patti Smith, MC5, or the New York Dolls.

[–] erikriveros 13 years ago

why isn't there a soundtrack listing for this flic?..good tracks throughout, though i do agree that some seemed out of the place for the type of filim this was and the time it's set in

it is better to have a gun and not need it, than to need a gun and not have it

[–] jamhough 12 years ago

Apparently the director wanted to use a lot of songs by the Feelies but they didnt want their music to be associated with terrorism (they were still able to include some songs in scenes that didnt actually show terrorism) but the other songs were added as an after thought.

But yeah, I really enjoyed the film and thought the soundtrack was awesome!

Full soundtrack:

Loveless Love by The Feelies
Dreams Never End by New Order
Terebellum by Fripp & Eno
All Night Party by A Certain Ratio
Ahead by Wire
Forces at Work by The Feelies
Sonic Reducer by The Dead Boys
Dot Dash by Wire
Drill by Wire
The 15th by Wire
Sharing by Satisfaction
Pure by The Lightning Seeds
La Pistola y el Corazon by Los Lobos
El Sueno Americano by La Portuaria

[–] tobygibson002 9 years ago

There is a song missing from this list. In the scene right before he gets kicked out of the first terrorist organization, they are in a little "tiki-bar" looking place on the beach and as you enter that scene, they play a Hawaiian song- just slack key guitar and a lady singing in Hawaiian- I recognize the melody but can't come up with a name. I was watching the movie version.

[–] burnplant 13 years ago

Totally agree with you, tweeky

Great songs but very distracting and out of place, particularly in eps 1 and 2.

[–] nanonta 13 years ago

Most of the "music" is this film was cr*ppy, which is one reason I gave it a poor rating.

[–] polaroidtrash 13 years ago

Interesting text from Wikipedia, based on the subject:

Initially, Assayas planned to use several songs by The Feelies on the soundtrack but shortly before post-production was completed he was informed that members of the band did not want their music associated with terrorism. The director remembers, "We ended up managing to keep one song for a scene that did not involve any kind of terroristic activity. But I had to completely reinvent the whole score".[10] He ended up using several songs by Wire. The soundtrack includes:

Loveless Love by The Feelies
Dreams Never End by New Order
Terebellum by Fripp & Eno
All Night Party by A Certain Ratio
Ahead by Wire
Forces at Work by The Feelies
Sonic Reducer by The Dead Boys
Dot Dash by Wire
Drill by Wire
The 15th by Wire
Sharing by Satisfaction
Pure by The Lightning Seeds
La Pistola y el Corazon by Los Lobos
El Sueno Americano by La Portuaria

[–] andyd-1 12 years ago

yes it seemed out of place

[–] RumourdProd 12 years ago

What's with this limited view that in order for a song to play over a movie, it has to come from that period of time? That's so uncreative. Why do something a particular way just because everything before it has? Thank god sofia coppola didn't feel this way. That was a breath of fresh air.