We all have those musics that help us get through the day, the ones we recognize at the very first notes, the ones that remind us of specific things the moment they start playing, the ones that play continuosly in repeat in our heads or the ones that we imagined to live like a videoclip one day.
Either way, music is always there and in films this becomes even clearer. There is always the right music to each moment and soundtracks are essential to the stories that are told. So we decided to make a TOP 10 of best soundtracks.
It should be noticed that some soundtracks are far too great to ever be put to competition and so were left out (like The Godfather (1972), A Clockwork Orange (1971), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), There Will Be Blood (2007) and so on).
10 | Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch | GER, GBR, FRA, GRC, USA, CYP | 123’
A soundtrack that earned Jozef van Wissem the Best Soundtrack Award at Cannes Film Festival. A film that talks about how life goes side by side with music, how time passes and how music has the power to carry us through time.
9 | 24 Hour Party People
Michael Winterbottom | GBR | 117’
Between real events, rumors, urban myths and some imagination, we are driven to travel through the “underground” world of British music, ranging from 70’s punk rock to rave and 90s DJs.
8 | Cidade de Deus
Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | BRA, FRA | 130’
An ode to traditional Brazilian music, which only gloriously complements an already classic of Brazilian cinema.
7 | The Virgin Suicides
Sofia Coppola | USA | 97’
A soundtrack that brings together original composition for the film and already existing songs, taking viewers into the world of youth in the North American suburbs.
6 | Black Cat, White Cat
Emir Kusturica | MKD, FRA, GER, AUT, GRC | 127’
Just because it’s impossible to think of Emir Kusturica’s films without the animated soundtracks and fanfare scenes.
5 | Do the Right Thing
Spike Lee | USA | 120’
Like jazz, hip hop also played its part in promoting and accepting different cultures, something quite clear in this great Spike Lee success.
4 | SuperFly
Gordon Parks Jr. | USA | 93’
Written and produced by Curtis Mayfield, this is one of those cases where the soundtrack is more striking than the film itself.
3 | Trainspotting
Danny Boyle | GBR | 94’
A cult film that marked a generation, a soundtrack still highly acclaimed today.
2 | Natural Born Killers
Oliver Stone | USA | 122’
A soundtrack that manages to harmonize Leonard Cohen and Nine Inch Nails can’t be anything less than epic.
1 | Dazed and Confused
Richard Linklater | USA | 102’
From Led Zeppelin to the classics of bands like Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith or even ZZ Top, this is undoubtedly one of the best soundtracks of all time.
Honorable mentions:
Whiplash
Damien Chazelle | USA | 107’
For the way the whole movie intertwines with the soundtrack, for the extreme importance that music has throughout the film and for what led us to make this list in the first place, jazz.
“Tarantino’s”
Although it was very difficult to choose a particular film, Quentin Tarantino's classics could not be left out.
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