Science Fiction

~A source to perfect artistic harmony?~

In my opinion, theatre today - as a presentative art form - is dead. Allow me to explain before I move back on topic (don't worry - I'll get to film music eventually!):

In the early 19th century, romanticism as an artistic direction had its heyday, as we all know (often nationalistic). Theatrical performances aimed at complete illusion - to get the public to forget they were actually in a theatre. Huge machineries were utilized and subject matter drawn from mythos, melodrama and larger-than-life scenarios, all coupled with emotional and soaring underscores performed live by huge orchestras, but in a pit where they could not be seen (in order to avoid the obvious distance, and functioning like regular non-diegetic film music in many ways). This idea had first been introduced by Richard Wagner, who also established the well-known concept called "Gesamtkunstwerk" - in short meaning that theatre, or more specifically opera, was an overarching conglomerate of artforms - music, theatre, literature, visual arts - and thus, the ultimate artform altogether.

Ideology in the late 19th century broke somewhat with the romantic idea, emphasizing the importance of reality and everyday life, referred to as realism and naturalism. But although this meant a departure from the larger-than-life scenarios and a move into the living room of the bourgeois (vitalizing a public sphere, as Habermas called it), the emphasis was still on complete illusion. But there was a problem: No matter how much they imported real trees on to the stage and sketched intricately detailed scenery on the back wall, it was still cardboard and the plot and characters still moved about in a "false" environment.

That's why, when Louis Lumière and his brother caught - on celluloid - the workers leaving their factory in 1895, the new artform thus being born - film - may be seen upon as the final manifestation of the strong tendency inherent in both romanticism and realism: complete illusion.  Theatre suffered immensely from the introduction of this new artform, both commercially and artistically. Commercially, the theatre entertainment monopoly was lifted and film became the new dominant. Artistically, film was the closest thing you could get to Wagner's "Gesamtkunswerk", and all attempts at realism from the theatre would now have to be measured up to the strong advantages of film.

In many ways, we thus saw the demise of theatre as a presentative artform. What theatre still "has", though, and which film will probably never acquire, is the representative aspect, i.e. an actor's ability to connect with an audience - a feature that stems from the premodern tribes and from pagan rituals. In my opinion, theatre lives on in that sphere, not in the countless performances of romantic and realistic plays.

...But back to film: As soon as it was introduced, experimentation commenced (both technologically and artistically - or both at the same time!). Decades later, sound was born, and consequently the musical underscore attached to celluloid. You now had at your disposal a story/script (the literary aspect), a camera and a set (the visual aspect) and some sound recording facilities (the musical/sound design aspect).

And now for my theory: In my opinion, the only film genre that has truly made use of all of these three aspects at the same time is science fiction. The thought-provoking grandeur of an author's self-imagined universe coupled with the possibility of a director and a photographer creating neoromantic, moving "semi-paintings" or tableaux coupled with a stunning musical odyssey (often classically symphonic), is impressive indeed!

So, whereas great movies (and scores) of course have popped up in all genres, and as much as I know there is an important message to be drawn from Italian neorealism or a psychologically motivated intrigue film by Woody Allen or Ingmar Bergman, the potential to reincarnate Wagner's "Gesamtkunstwerk" (to the extent that that is desirable), lies only in science fiction.

There is therefore much need to criticize famous film academic André Bazin's schematic film history overview, in which he divides directors concerned with the formal potential of film (the "picture") with those concerned with catching reality on film (and a strong preference for the latter). Claiming that the formal directions such as German expressionism (e.g. Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS) or the politically laden Soviet montage films (e.g. Eisenstein's BATTLESHIP POTEMPKIN) fail to utilize the medium's potential - the objective documentation of reality - he also fails to understand the artistic potential of the film medium, as an incarnation of Wagner's "Gesamtkunstwerk".

Having thus established film as a way to create combined artforms, and science fiction as the ultimate film genre and way to materialize this potential, this finally takes us to the scores. There have, of course, been several "variations on a theme" when it comes to sci fi scores, and not all have been in the leitmotiv-led symphonic STAR WARS-mode. Think, for instance, on the all-electronic sound design score of FORBIDDEN PLANET or the "sturm und drang" of Bernard Herrmann's Harryhausen scores or John Carpenter's minimalistic DARK STAR.

But there is a reason why so many of us soundtrack afficionados feel obsessed with sci fi/adventure scores and why they're the most succesful of all genre scores. I think it has something to do with the artistic potential within the overall concept. The sci fi concept "draws" certain latent qualities out of the composer - he or she gets this army of well-constructed spiritual images to accompany musically. And it shows: Look at James Horner or Jerry Goldsmith - in many people's eyes, these two have had their pinnacle scores within this genre. And when everything succeeds and the aforementioned conglomerate of story/images/sound and music is a hit, it becomes a worldwide phenomenon altogether (I'm thinking of STAR WARS, of course). Perhaps people identify with the almost religious tone of the film - it appeals to and challenges our imagination, fantasy, intellect and emotions.

So what does all of this tell us? Well, nothing revolutionary as such. Just that - when collective art creation [such as film making] is a success - it is so because the ones involved find their "Muse" within each other. And in my humble opinion, there is nothing more inspiring than the concept of science fiction - musically speaking, composers are at liberty to create their own musical universe, coexisting with the one on screen...