Live Life Team
Writer/director Quentin Tarantino has been accused multiple times of stealing material, especially songs which have already been used in earlier films. What makes Tarantino’s reuse of the songs so brilliant is that he doesn’t deny this. He has stated that he wants to borrow from Ennio Morricone or some rock song and make it better, which many of his supporters agree he has done. The same can be said for multiple films.
In “2001: A Space Odyssey”, Stanley Kubrick’s use of Wagner’s “Thus Spake Zarathustra” and Strauss’s “Blue Danube” have become the gold standard for those pieces. But consider Looney Tunes’ multiple use of “The Blue Danube”. In the short, “Corny-gie Hall”, Daffy Duck plays the Ugly Duckling accompanied by the waltz. Another, lesser-known Chuck Jones short, “High Note”, features wily quarter notes battling wily grace notes on the grand staff.
One of the best recycled pieces is Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”. In “The Elephant Man”, the song plays under the closing credits. The song has a sobering, melancholy tone, which perfectly set the tone for the closing of David Lynch. Only six years later, Oliver Stone borrowed the piece for his magnum opus, “Platoon”. The song bookends the film, playing as Charlie Sheen’s young character arrives in Vietnam and then again at the end as he weeps when his helicopter leaves to take him home. Somehow, Stone’s use accentuates Barber’s composition without taking away from Lynch’s. Both films are served by the piece, heightened even, which proves the brilliance of both directors.
