Johnny Greenwood is what you would call a multi-instrumentalist, meaning that he plays several different instruments and has mastered nearly every one of them. He is also the lead guitarist and keyboardist of Radiohead. He’s actually the only member of the band that has studied music theory and as a result is the only one among them that has branched out into producing musical scores for several different films. His style of music has changed in accordance with each film but each piece has been completed with a level of mastery that is nothing less than impressive.
Here are some of the best scores he’s done thus far.
5. The Master
Freddie Quell is a disturbed human being. After failing to readjust to a post-war society he goes on the run for a while before ending up on a boat with a movement called The Cause. As he seeks to acclimate to the ways of The Cause he finds that old habits continue to plague him as he can’t seem to follow their ways or adhere to their expectations. Eventually they have a falling out and he simply leaves, never to return.
4. You Were Never Really Here
This movie seems a bit odd but it also seems to center around Joe, who has been hired to retrieve a young girl from a certain location. It’s got the look of an action/drama/thriller that might be worth a look and might actually be a redemptive movie that could push Joaquin Phoenix back in to the spotlight if it’s looked at by the right people.
3. We Need To Talk About Kevin
A truly disturbing scene of what happens when a child simply goes bad, this movie is all about the life of Kevin and how he seems to delight in the pain of others. From a young age he displays behaviors that only his mother gets to see. In the end however he has become the monster she always thought he was, and the payment for her silence is the loss of everything and everyone she cared about.
2. There Will Be Blood
Daniel Plainview is kind of an odd character but he is also a man that knows what he wants and doesn’t hesitate to get it. When someone gets in his way however there will be problems, and eventually there will be blood. His life is a hard one but he is no saint. Throughout the movie he is shown to be a hard man that knows how outmaneuver those that oppose him, and casually toss away those that once meant something to him.
1. Phantom Thread
Phantom Thread is all about the life and glamour of the noted fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock, a man that designs dresses, gowns, and other fashionable garments for the rich and famous. Unfortunately Reynolds is also a a bachelor and when he begins to show his fancy towards a single woman that would seek to make him hers he begins to suspect her of anything he can, all because she has disrupted his otherwise perfect world.
The movies all look decent on their own, but the music by Johnny Greenwood makes them a little more meaningful.
