The Big Chill - Lawrence Kasdan (1983) |
A movie about the differences between the '80s and '60s (and '70s) decades, the difficulty to grow and to face the real world maintaining youth ideals, and the never ending importance of friendship, a movie that has become a model for many other films in the whole world. Director Lawrence Kasdan (1949) did have a good reputation in cinema industry being the screenplay author of important movies as "Raiders Of The Lost Ark", "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of The Jedi" and having got a big success with his first movie Body Heath (with Kathleen Turner and William Hurt). So he had the opportunity to find producers (nevertheless reluctant) to finance a movie completely new in his structure, the story being all compressed in a week-end and featuring eight co-protagonists, all at the same level of importance. Furthermore, none of them was interpreted by well known names, but the actors selected were more or less at their first steps. |
The Music was one of the most important elements of the project, completely based on edited material, evocative songs coming from the '70s and the '60s, the ones the characters listened in their college years. This was the same period Kasdan too was in college at Ann Arbor University (Michigan, US), approximately 1968-1972. Kasdan's choice was based on very well known songs (as Procol Harum's or Rolling Stones or Spencer Davis Group ones) together with other US R&B hits, perfectly inserted in the main moments of the story. The songs' list associated with the days and with the moments of the movie is now available for the first time (as far as we know) on our website Music Graffiti (Music & Memories). The movie was a worldwide success, and it gave the opportunity to almost all the actors for the beginning of a brilliant career, from Kevin Kline to Glenn Close, from William Hurt to Jeff Goldblum. Not so for Kevin Costner, selected for Alex's character, the flashback in which he played his role was deleted after the film was completed, to avoid confusion and maintain straight and clean the movie, and so he had to wait few other years to become "Fame". |
|
Song |
Performer(s) |
Author(s) |
Day |
Moment |
I Heard it Through the Grapevine |
Marvin Gaye |
Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong |
Before Friday |
Credit titles |
You Can't Always Get What You Want |
The Rolling Stones |
Mick Jagger, Keith Richard |
Friday morning |
Alex's funeral |
A Whiter Shade of Pale |
Procol Harum |
Keith Reid, Gary Brooker |
Friday afternoon |
Chatting before the dinner |
Tracks of My Tears |
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles |
Warren Moore, William Robinson Jr., Marvin Tarplin |
Friday evening |
First attempt of Meg with Nick |
Wouldn't It Be Nice |
The Beach Boys |
Tony Ascher, Brian Wilson |
Friday evening |
After dinner, drugs and smoke |
Tell Him |
The Exciters |
Bert Russell |
Friday evening late |
Coming closer |
The Weight |
The Band |
Jaime Robbie Robertson |
Saturday morning |
Breakfast after a heavy night, same scene, many interpreters |
Good Lovin' |
The Rascals |
Rudy Clark, Arthur Resnick |
Saturday morning, later |
Harold, Michael, Nick and Chloe driving on a jeep towards Alex and Chloe house in the wood |
Strangers In The Night |
Instrumental |
Bert Kaempfert, Eddie Snyder, Charlie Singleton |
Saturday morning, in the meantime |
Ambient music in the supermarket, below Karen e Sam dialogue |
Gimme Some Lovin' |
Spencer Davis Group |
Steve Winwood, Muff Winwood, Spencer Davis |
Saturday afternoon |
Football play in the garden, during the meantime of the TV championship game |
Bad Moon Rising |
Creedence Clearwater Revival |
John C. Fogerty |
Saturday afternoon, later |
Sam e Harold going in jeep to the town for the dinner provisions |
Ain't Too Proud To Beg |
The Temptations |
Eddie Holle, Norman Whitfield |
Saturday evening |
Dancing and cooking in the kitchen |
When a Man Loves a Woman |
Percy Sledge |
Calvin H. Lewis, Erew Wright |
Saturday evening |
After the dinner of the renewed union between the seven friends |
A Natural Woman |
Aretha Franklin |
Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Jerry Wexler |
Saturday evening, late |
New and old love affairs starting (Sara and Harold and Meg, Nick and Chloe, Sam and Karen) |
In the Midnight Hour |
The Rascals |
Wilson Pickett, Steve Cropper |
Saturday night |
A love night for someone of the company |
I Second That Emotion |
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles |
William Robinson Jr., Alfred Clevele |
Sunday morning |
Breakfast after the night of love and friendship. |
Joy To The World |
Three Dog Night |
Hoyt Axton |
Sunday |
Last joke (Michael) and ending titles |
Quicksilver Girl |
The Steve Miller Band |
Steve Miller |
|
Background music |
My Girl |
The Temptations |
William Robinson Jr., Ronald White |
|
Background music |
© Alberto Truffi - Musica & Memoria January 2007 |