Opening With the Samuel Barber Concerto

... was, for me, one of the boldest directorial moves I've ever experienced. And one of the least successful and least defensible.

Highly emotional music on a soundtrack can work, but only if the movie has already earned our emotional investment. As far as my brain is concerned (and I do not claim this reaction to be universal), you just cannot begin a movie with tremendously emotional music at a point where we don't know who the characters are or what they're up to. Once I saw what was going on, I wanted to yell "shut the f up and let me watch Rachel Weisz act!" I thought it was the most intrusive use of music I'd ever experienced, and I came very close to turning the film off, which is something I essentially never do.

What's worse, it made me dislike the music. And I do think Barber is a bit overrated. But when I imagine the movie beginning with my favorite emotionally wrenching music (Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis," used aptly in Master and Commander) instead, it still seems wrong to me. I would have reacted negatively to that, I think, because I would still feel that the movie was cheating.

Anyone else feel this way? And is there anyone who really liked it?

Prepare your minds for a new scale of physical, scientific values, gentlemen.