Musical Themes in Conan the Barbarian

Musical Themes in Conan the Barbarian Thesis statement Those who had been introduced to the history of cinematography are well aware of the fact that, even before the beginning of a ‘talkie’ era, musical accompaniment played rather important role in highlighting movies’ semantic significance. As it was pointed out by Gianetti, ‘(prior to 1927) In the large city theaters, full orchestras provided atmospheric background to the visuals.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Musical Themes in the Film Conan the Barbarian specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In small towns, a piano was often used for the same purpose.’[1] Nevertheless, it was namely after sound became integrally incorporated into movies’ representational matrix that the full potential of utilizing musical scores in cinematography was revealed, especially in the case of classically edited films. The reason for this is simple – given the fact that in classic ally edited movies, directors strive to ensure the semiotic plausibility of every single scene as their foremost objective; it naturally predisposes them towards emphasizing takes’ psychological integrity. And, the best way to accomplish it is to represent characters’ behavioral three-dimensionality as being dialectically predetermined – that is, to show the qualitative essence of characters’ existential mode as such that correlates with the affiliated environment/background. The utilization of appropriate musical themes comes particularly helpful in this respect, as it substantiates the realness of film’s themes and motifs, reflected in the manner of how characters react to life’s challenges. In this paper, we will aim to explore earlier articulated thesis at length, while referring to John Milius’s 1982 famous film Conan the Barbarian, featuring musical score by Basil Poledouris, as we believe that this film represents a particularl y notable example how the utilization of thematically appropriate music in cinematographic work can endow it with an aura of historicity – hence, ensuring its cult status. Analytical part The viewing of Conan the Barbarian leaves very little doubt as to the fact that, semantically speaking, the conceptual genre of this movie closely relates to the genre of Scandinavian sagas, which glorify the virtue of physical strength while exposing it as being deeply affiliated with corresponding psychological traits of courageousness, loyalty and one’s commitment to its sense of duty. Therefore, it comes as no particular surprise that the themes and motifs, contained in Milius’s film, endorse essentially Nordic outlook on surrounding realities, the qualitative essence of which is being defined by an ongoing confrontation between Good (Light) and Evil (Darkness).Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 1 5% OFF Learn More While referring to the subtleties of movie’s plot, Saunders states, ‘It is immediately clear who the villains of this piece are supposed to be†¦ atavistic, bestially inclined black man, who worship the Edenic serpent, as opposed to Conan’s ‘Crom,’ a singular, anthropomorphic Norse-type deity.’[2] Apparently, while composing music for Conan the Barbarian, Poledouris never ceased being aware of what accounted for Wagnerian operas’ immense popularity in Western ecumene – namely the fact that the motifs of these operas corresponded rather well with the workings of White people’s archetypical psyche. The same can be said about the music of John Williams, featured in Star Wars space opera – just as it being the case with Poledouris’s musical themes, written for Conan the Barbarian, Williams’s music invokes White people’s subconscious belief in ever-present dualit y of life’s emanations and in the eventual triumph of quality over quantity. According to Paulus, ‘Both of them (Wagner’s operas and Williams’ musical scores) deal with largely mythological themes†¦ In both of them we find a clear division of leitmotifs into Good (Light) and Bad (Darkness) themes.’[3] Therefore, it is not only that in Conan the Barbarian Poledouris’s themes provide a musical background to unfolding of the plot, but also validate plot’s soundness, which in its turn is being concerned with exploring the motif of a single hero coming out a winner from confrontation with impossible odds. As it was noted by Gianatti in the book from which we have already quoted, ‘Beginning with the opening credits, music can serve as a kind of overture to suggest the mood or spirit of the film as a whole.’[4] This is exactly the role that the Prologue theme fulfills in Conan the Barbarian. Despite the fact that this theme only features an ominously sounding drumbeat, it nevertheless establishes an objective precondition for viewers to be implanted with a sensation that they are about to watch a highly epical story of one’s rise to power (00.00.02). Narrator’s introductory monologue, ‘Let me tell of about the days of high adventure’ (00.01.30) strengthens this impression even more – from the very beginning of a movie, viewers’ exposal to the Prologue theme, helps them to adopt a proper cognitive mood.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Musical Themes in the Film Conan the Barbarian specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Just as it is being the case with most Faustian (Western) heroes, the character of Conan is being initially represented emanating innocence. This is exactly the reason why the pitch, tone and timbre of the beginning of Riddle of Steel theme, which provides a musical background to the sce ne in which young Conan is shown fishing (05.58.00), is best described as rather subdued. Nevertheless, as movie progresses further, the scene of inhabitants of Conan’s village taking care of their domestic affairs gets to be abruptly replaced with the scene of Doom riders advancing towards the village (00.07.11). The sheer sensation of danger, emanated by this particular scene, is being acoustically replicated by corresponding Riders of Doom theme, which radiates the spirit of a military action – cruel, prompt and decisive. After Conan gets to be sold into slavery by evil Thulsa Doom, he is being led to the Wheel of Pain, in order to be chained up to it and to push the handles of this wheel 24/7, so that the wheel could be rotating non-stop, regardless of the time of the year or weather. The watching of this scene is absolutely crucial for anyone who wants to gain an insight into what constituted Conan’s psychological makeup – apparently, director wanted to emphasize the fact that Conan was not born a ‘natural fighter’ but was turned into a fighter by being subjected to the years and years of systematic abuse, which nevertheless did not break Conan spiritually. The listening of correlative Wheel of Pain theme (00.15.10) legitimizes audiences’ perception of Conan as a surrogate-Jesus, who was gaining strength while being humiliated. Just as it is being usually the case in Wagnerian operas, the beginning of this theme features clearly melodic but rather subdued and monotonous sounding, supplemented by a muffled drumbeat. Nevertheless, as it unravels, the theme begins to sound ever more emotionally intense and eventually reaches its heroically sounding climax in the scene when grown up Conan lifts up his head in rather defiant manner (00.16.33). Thus, the implications of this particular musical theme are quite clear – it substantiates viewers’ initial perception of Conan as ‘hero in makingâ€⠄¢. As Spottiswood had put it, ‘Musical leitmotifs act as emotives and assist the visual film towards insight into the characters they are attached to.’[5] This is why, despite the fact that throughout movie’s entirety Conan does not talk very much, viewers recognize his act as being rationally motivated.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The validity of an earlier statement can also be explored in film’s consequential parts that feature Poledouris’s music playing in the background. For example, in the scene where Conan and his friend Subotai walk through the town (00.37.59), the beginning of a corresponding Civilization theme appears slightly atonal, which was meant to highlight Conan’s attitude towards Eastern exotics that he associates with the absence of a fresh air. Yet, once Conan and Subotai again find themselves in the middle of open plains, the music adopts back its epic sounding (00.38.09). Consequently, viewers are being provided with an additional clue as to the essence of Conan’s existential identity as someone who simply cannot be corrupted and who appreciates freedom above all. At the same time, given the fact that Conan the Barbarian is classically edited movie, it would be wrong to think of Poledouris’s music in the film as such that serves the purpose of accentuati ng characters’ psychological identity alone. In the same scene that we have already mentioned, the inclusion of Civilization theme helps to ensure the linear continuity between scene’s takes. Such our idea connects well with Gorbman’s suggestion that the inclusion of appropriately sounding musical scores in films does help viewers to become a part of cinematographic action, ‘The musical score can act to promote continuity or to punctuate, as well as to comment on emotional states in the dramatic action.’[6] For example, without Poledouris’s music playing in the background, the consequential shots of Conan eating some rotten meat off the stick (00.37.54), giving mean looks to bystanders (38.03.00), and then running through the open fields (00.38.09) would make little rational sense. As a result, this would undermine film’s time-related integrity. Nevertheless, the fact that, while being exposed to these shots, viewers simultaneously get to listen to Civilization theme, provides them with the sensation of ‘time compression’ – even though these shots are being flashed on the screen for duration of only few seconds, we get to perceive them as being rather spatially extended. In his book, Gianetti had made a perfectly valid point while suggesting that the role of music in films is being also concerned with helping viewers to orient in the actual settings, ‘Certain kinds of music can suggest locales, classes, or ethnic groups.’[7] In the scene where Conan sneaks into the Church of Serpent (00.43.44), there is the Serpent theme playing in the background that feature clearly defined Oriental undertones. Thus, by being exposed to this theme, viewers do not only gain a better understanding of the locale, where action takes place, but they are also being implanted with a sense of alienation from this specific locale as something inheritably wicked. In its turn, this helps to substantiate fil m’s conceptual premise as to the fact that it is namely one’s willingness to assess surrounding reality through the lenses of euro-centric rationale, and not through the lenses of some primeval mysticism/spirituality (as it is usually the case with non-Whites), which establishes objective preconditions for such individual to come as a winner out of confrontation with evil. The same can be said about the Orgy theme, the sounding of which provides contextual integrity to the scene in which Conan and his friends make an unwelcomed appearance in Thusla Doom’s actual headquarters, inside the Mountain of Doom (01.27.58). There can be very little doubt that the sounding of this particular theme is being reminiscent to the sounding of Catholic chants. In its turn, this helped Milius to subtly promote his outlook on just about any Eastern religion (such as Christianity, for example) as being spiritually alien to physically and mentally healthy White males, embodied by th e character of Conan. Apparently, it was not simply an accident that movie’s opening credits feature Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous statement: ‘that which does not kill us makes us stronger’. In his article, Pecora points out to the fact that Milius had conceived Conan the Barbarian as ideologically engaged movie, ‘His (Nietzsche’s) name will come up in the most unlikely contexts - quoted suddenly by avowed ‘Zen fascist’ John Milius at the opening of his Conan the Barbarian.’[8] In all probability, it was Nietzsche’s anti-religious stance that attracted Milius to his philosophy and had consequentially prompted him to utilize Poledouris’s musical score to mock Christianity as the religion of decay and corruption. After all, Poledouris himself had never made secret of his fascination with Nietzsche’s philosophical insights. As we have stated earlier, when assessed from structuralist point of view, Conan th e Barbarian closely reminds Scandinavian epic sagas. Therefore, it is quite explainable why film’s climax is being shifted towards its very end, when Conan indulges in the battle with Doom Riders and consequentially decapitates Thulsa Doom – hence, attaining the Nietzschean status of a ‘lion-child’. This also explains why Battle of the Mounds theme, featured as the musical background to this particular scene, is the most memorable of all. Unlike what it is being the case with the rest of Poledouris’s music, presented in the film, the movements of Battle of the Mounds theme match Conan’s act with perfect exactness. At the beginning of a scene, where Conan and his friends are being shown making preparations for the battle, the corresponding theme emanates the feeling of an anticipation – there is not that much of an actual music but largely the rhythmical drumbeat, supplemented by symphonic elements (01.46.19). Nevertheless, as soon as D oom Riders show up on the horizon, the symphonic overtones of a theme begin to sound progressively louder (01.48.30) – hence, signifying the sheer ferociousness of Thulsa Doom’s cavalry charge. The scene culminates when, after having waited for Doom’s horsemen to approach, Conan hits the closest rider in the belly with his axe (01.49.39), which is being immediately followed by a dramatic rise in the affiliative theme’s tone and pitch. It is needles to mention, of course, that while editing this particular scene, Milius succeeded rather spectacularly with conveying movie’s foremost message to the viewers: ‘All that matters is that few stood against many. That is important’ (01.49.03). And, the fact that in Conan the Barbarian Poledouris’s compositions provide a musical background to the action on the screen, had helped him enormously in this respect. Conclusions The earlier conducted analysis of what accounts for the significance of Poledouris’s music in Milius’s movie, allows us to come with the following set of conclusions, regarding the discussed subject matter: The foremost role that Poledouris’s musical score appears to play in Conan the Barbarian is being concerned with prompting viewers to assess the implication of a screen-action through the lenses of existential idealism – that is, by being exposed to this music, viewers are expected to eventually adopt Milius’s heroic life-philosophy as their own. Given clearly Wagnerian sounding and stylistic refinement of Poledouris’s music, we can safely assume that Milius had largely succeeded in that. In Conan the Barbarian, the function of Poledouris’s music is also being concerned with substantiating the psychological plausibility of characters’ behavior. Given the fact that the foremost aesthetic feature of film’s music is the sheer extent of its dramaticism, it comes as no surprise for the vi ewers that, throughout movie’s entirety, the character of Conan acts in essentially heroic manner. In Milius’s film, music is also being utilized to invoke a variety of unconscious anxieties, in regards to one’s physical appearance, deep within viewers’ psyche, which in its turn, prompts them to consciously subscribe to the idea that the notion of physical beauty/strength and the notion of intellectual integrity derive out of each other. Poledouris’s musical score, featured in Conan the Barbarian, makes it easier for the viewers to follow the unfolding of the plot, as it encourages them to think of plot’s developments as being dialectically predetermined. We believe that the conclusions, we have come up with, confirm the validity of paper’s initial hypothesis as to the fact that the utilization of thematically appropriate music in movies helps directors to increase these movies’ aesthetic appeal to the broader audiences, which in its turn, results in ensuring the concerned films’ commercial success. Reference List Conan the barbarian. video recording. 20th Century Fox. 1982. Giannetti, L, Understanding movies, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2001. Gorbman, C, ‘Music as Salvation: Notes on Fellini and Rota’. Film Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 2, 1975, pp. 17-25. Paulus, I, ‘Williams versus Wagner or an attempt at linking musical epics’,  International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 31, no. 2, 2000, pp. 153-184. Pecora, V, ’Nietzsche, genealogy, critical Theory’. New German Critique, no. 53, 1991, pp. 104-130. Saunders, D, Arnold: Schwarzenegger and the Movies, I.B. Tauris, London, 2009. Spottiswoode, R, A Grammar of the film: An analysis of film  technique, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1962. Footnotes L Giannetti, Understanding movies, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2001, p. 209. D Saunders, Arnold: Schwarzenegger and the M ovies, I.B. Tauris, London, 2009, p. 51. I Paulus, ‘Williams versus Wagner or an attempt at linking musical epics’. International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, vol. 31, no. 2, 2000, p. 158. Gianetti, p. 222. R Spottiswoode, A Grammar of the film: An analysis of film technique, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1962, p. 193. C Gorbman, ‘Music as Salvation: Notes on Fellini and Rota’. Film Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 2, 1975, p. 17. Gianetti, p. 223. V Pecora, ’Nietzsche, Genealogy, Critical Theory’. New German Critique, no. 53, 1991, p. 104.