127 Hours: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | 2 November 2010 [1] | |||
Recorded | K. M. Musiq Studios, Los Angeles AIR Studios, London Miloko Studios, London Hear No Evil Recording Studio, London Panchathan Record Inn and AM Studios, Chennai Nirvana Studios, Mumbai | |||
Genre | Post-industrial, experimental, ambient | |||
Length | 1:01:23 | |||
Label | Interscope, Fox Music | |||
Producer | A. R. Rahman, Gretchen Anderson | |||
Danny Boyle film soundtrack chronology | ||||
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A. R. Rahman chronology | ||||
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Singles from 127 Hours:Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
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127 Hours:Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's 2010 film of the same name. It was composed by Academy Award Winner A. R. Rahman,Boyle's previous collaborator on Slumdog Millionaire . The score,centred on guitar,was recorded mainly in London and was completed in three weeks. [2] The soundtrack was released digitally on 2 November and physically on 22 November,by Interscope Records and Fox Music. [3] The score is briefly orchestral and the song's main theme,"If I Rise" features Rahman playing the Harpejji. [4]
The soundtrack album includes original score and the theme song composed by Rahman,the tracks "Never Hear Surf Music Again" by Free Blood,"Lovely Day" by Bill Withers,Frédéric Chopin's Nocturne No.2 in E flat,Op.9 No.2,"Ça plane pour moi" by Plastic Bertrand,"If You Love Me" by Esther Phillips,and "Festival" by Sigur Rós. [5] The original theme song of the film,"If I Rise",is written by A. R. Rahman (music),Dido and Rollo Armstrong (lyrics) and performed by Dido along with Rahman. It was featured in the climax scene of the film. [6]
The film's subject Aron Ralston's favourite band,Phish,is mentioned in the film. During production,Boyle asked Ralston how Phish lyrics could be included in the film. Ralston sings lines from the Phish song "Sleeping Monkey" when swimming in one of the early scenes of the movie. [7] But the soundtrack album did not feature this song. Another song "The Funeral" from Band of Horses is not in the soundtrack album,but is used in the end of the trailer.
Rahman collaborated with Danny Boyle for the second time. Their previous association,Slumdog Millionaire was a great critical and commercial success to Rahman,who was described by Time magazine as India's most prominent movie songwriter,in 2005. [8] After the scripting finished,Boyle handed over the script to Rahman,who says when he first got the script and the screenplay,even before the shoot,some kind of sounds came into his mind and he put some stuff down and sent it to Boyle when he was cutting the movie. [2] Rahman wanted the score to feel very much like something the cinematic Ralston might be listening to,a mix of heavily layered acoustic and electric guitars,brightened with digital effects. [9] About the selection of guitar as the major instrument,Rahman says:
"My thing was to have one instrument, one instrument that was very close to this character. He was single, he was very confident and young. So I thought the guitar would be perfect." [9]
Rahman says that he was able to complete the score within a short period of three to four weeks. [2] After completing the score, when asked about the scoring experience and challenges, Rahman said:
"The idea was not to make the music sad or self-pitying at all. The idea was to go to Aron's frame of mind where he was happy and confident. Aron has this energy and charm about him, which inspired the movie. The music could have easily gone into a dark zone where you feel uncomfortable sitting in the movie. Danny loves stuff which drives and has a love for surreal, futuristic sounding things." [10]
"At first, it felt a little bit too harsh, but I went to the computer and went for something meditative rather than harsh. It was a very difficult scene. I had to see it more than 40 times. We started pulling things out of the score. We wanted to make it more human." [9]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [11] |
ChartAttack | [12] |
Empire | |
Film Music Magazine | A |
Filmtracks | |
Gordon and the Whale [usurped] | |
Los Angeles Times | |
Music Aloud | 8.75/10 |
Movie Music UK | |
Movie Wave | |
ScoreNotes |
The soundtrack received generally favourable critical reviews. Philip French of The Observer commented that "The music is subtly varied; the soundtrack makes admirable use of silence and natural sound." [13]
Sarah Kurchak of ChartAttack reviewed the music saying "There's something about the way Danny Boyle uses popular music in his films that's really exciting for anyone who genuinely cares about the medium. Plenty of directors are good with a score, and he's no slouch in that department, but the use of songs is a different beast. In both score and songs, Boyle seems to have an inherent ability to understand the moods and emotions music can inspire in people and uses it to augment his storytelling." [12]
The soundtrack was rated five out of five in the review by Danny Graydon of Empire magazine. His review reads: "Following their Oscar-winning collaboration on Slumdog Millionaire, A. R. Rahman provides Danny Boyle’s tale of a mountaineer in dire straits with an affecting core of slow-burn, reflective cues that ultimately penetrate in a big way, supported by a typically eclectic array of exterior tracks from the likes of Free Blood, Bill Withers and, most effectively, Sigur Rós. Rahman’s nine cues are anchored on acoustic guitar and generate a suitably meditative tone, augmented by ethnic pipes (Acid Darbari) and ethereal vocals (R. I. P.). Rahman’s collaboration with singer Dido, If I Rise, closes proceedings with a cathartic and quietly optimistic tone which almost prompts a tear." [14]
Margaret Wappler, in the review published in Los Angeles Times , said that "In his last movie, Slumdog Millionaire, director Danny Boyle showed a sophisticated sense of how music and image can intertwine and intensify each other. With his latest, 127 Hours, he proves his skill again, reenlisting composer A.R. Rahman, who won two Academy Awards for his racing, kinetic score to Boyle's violent fairy tale set in Mumbai, India." [15]
Daniel Schweiger of Film Music Magazine said that "Danny Boyle and A.R. Rahman are going for a far more interior moment of transcendence, one that tells us the often-awful fight for life is more than worth it- especially in this haunting fever dream that take a filmmaker and musician to new heights while pondering their way out of a man's darkest hours." [16]
The review published by Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks commented that "Whether or not you can stomach this film or its equally challenging album, the music serves as even more evidence that the diversity of Rahman's talents can compete favourably in an otherwise arguably stale film scoring environment in the United States." [17]
Jonathan Broxton of Movie Music UK gave a favourable review and called the score an "unconventional one". He also praised Rahman for his ability to score in multiple genres. [18]
Director Shekhar Kapur, after a special screening of the movie, commented through Twitter that "Rahman's score adds depth to Danny Boyle's deft and energetic direction in 127 hours. Rahman certainly deserves another Oscar for 127 hours, Danny Boyle and Rahman are proving to be a great combination." [19]
Aron Ralston, on whom the movie is based, praised Rahman for the music and posted a hand-written note on Facebook and Twitter, which reads:
"For A.R, Thank you for bringing your amazing music to my story – if only I had your soundtrack in the canyon, I could've lasted another 127 hours. Best Wishes, A.R. (Aron Ralston)." [20]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Artist(s) | Length |
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1. | "Never Hear Surf Music Again" | John Pugh | Free Blood | 5:52 |
2. | "The Canyon" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 3:01 |
3. | "Liberation Begins" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 2:14 |
4. | "Touch of the Sun" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 4:39 |
5. | "Lovely Day" | Bill Withers, Skip Scarborough | Bill Withers | 4:16 |
6. | "Nocturne No.2 in E flat, Op.9 No.2" | Frédéric Chopin | Vladimir Ashkenazy | 4:01 |
7. | "Ça plane pour moi" | Francis Jean Deprijck, Yves Maurice Lacomblez | Plastic Bertrand | 3:00 |
8. | "Liberation in a Dream" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 4:06 |
9. | "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" | Marguerite Monnot, Édith Piaf (Original French lyrics), Geoffrey Parsons (English adaptation) | Esther Phillips | 3:27 |
10. | "Acid Darbari" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 4:21 |
11. | "R.I.P." | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 5:11 |
12. | "Liberation" | A. R. Rahman | A. R. Rahman | 3:11 |
13. | "Festival" | Jon Thor Birgisson, Orri Páll Dýrason, Georg Hólm, Kjartan Sveinsson | Sigur Rós | 9:26 |
14. | "If I Rise" | A. R. Rahman, Dido & Rollo Armstrong | Dido, A. R. Rahman, Chorus [lower-alpha 1] | 4:38 |
Total length: | 1:01:23 |
Daniel Francis Boyle is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1996) and its sequel T2 Trainspotting (2017), The Beach (1999), 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), 127 Hours (2010), Steve Jobs (2015), and Yesterday (2019).
Allah Rakha Rahman is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in international cinema. He is a recipient of six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, fifteen Filmfare Awards, and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. In 2010, the Government of India conferred him with the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian award.
Aron Lee Ralston is an American mountaineer, mechanical engineer, and motivational speaker, known for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off part of his own right arm.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a 2004 autobiographical book by American mountain climber Aron Ralston. It details an incident that occurred in 2003 when Ralston was canyoneering in Bluejohn Canyon in the Utah desert, where he became trapped for five days.
Slumdog Millionaire: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack album of the British drama film of the same name, directed by Danny Boyle. The original score and songs were composed by A. R. Rahman, who planned the score in two months and completed it in 20 days, a far shorter time period than usual.
"Jai Ho" is a song composed by A. R. Rahman for the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. When Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire, approached Rahman to compose its soundtrack, he included the song. "Jai Ho" accompanies a choreographed dance sequence at the end credits of the film. Indian singer Tanvi Shah wrote and provided vocals for an English section of the song. "Jai Ho" is a phrase which can be roughly translated as "Let [the] victory prevail", "Let there be victory", or "May there always be victory".
"O... Saya" is a song from the soundtrack of the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. It was composed by Indian musician A. R. Rahman and British rapper M.I.A., both of whom performed on the recording.
127 Hours is a 2010 biographical psychological survival drama film co-written, produced, and directed by Danny Boyle. The film stars James Franco, Kate Mara, Amber Tamblyn, and Clémence Poésy. In the film, canyoneer Aron Ralston must find a way to escape after he gets trapped by a boulder in an isolated slot canyon in Bluejohn Canyon, southeastern Utah, in April 2003. It is a British and American venture produced by Pathé, Everest Entertainment, Film4 Productions, HandMade Films and Cloud Eight Films.
Delhi-6 is the soundtrack album to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's 2009 film of the same name. A. R. Rahman scored the film, collaborating a second time with Mehra after Rang De Basanti, and Prasoon Joshi penned the lyrics. The music was released on 14 January 2009 at the Indian Idol 4 competition.
"We Belong Together" is a song written, composed and performed by Randy Newman for the 2010 film Toy Story 3. The song was nominated for several Best Original Song awards from various film society and awards committees. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 83rd Academy Awards in February 2011.
"If I Rise" is a song performed by A. R. Rahman and Dido, composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Dido and Rollo Armstrong. The song featured as the main theme for the Danny Boyle film 127 Hours.
People Like Us: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to Alex Kurtzman's 2012 film of the same name. It is composed by Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman whose last successful international release was 127 Hours. Rahman began recording the patch work of score in 2011 and the score was completed by late September 2011. The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on June 19, 2012, under the label Lakeshore Records.
Ye Maaya Chesave is the soundtrack album of the 2010 Telugu romantic drama film of the same name, directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The original score and songs were composed by A. R. Rahman; lyrics are penned by Anantha Sreeram, along with Kalyani Menon and Kaithapram, the latter penning the Malayalam lyrics in the album. This is the sixth time that A. R. Rahman composed music for a direct Telugu film and the fourth time that he composed the entire soundtrack for a Telugu film. This also marked Rahman's comeback into Telugu cinema after six years.
Maryan is the soundtrack album composed by A. R. Rahman for the 2013 Tamil film of the same name directed by Bharatbala. The film that is produced under the banner Aascar Films, stars Dhanush and Parvathy in the lead roles. The album was released under the label Sony Music India on 17 May 2013. The music received extremely positive critical reception and overwhelming audience response after its release. It also topped the iTunes India charts for the month of May and June 2013. Further, for the remaining months of 2013, it maintained its position in the top 10 music album charts. The soundtrack album was adjudged as "Tamil Album of Year" in iTunes’ Best of 2013. Rahman won the Norway Tamil Film Festival Best Music Director award and the SIIMA Award for Best Music Director in 2014. The soundtrack was nominated at the 2014 Edison Awards and Vijay Awards for both best music direction and best background score. Rahman was also nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Tamil but he won the same award for his compositions to Kadal.
Lekar Hum Deewana Dil is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman, to the 2014 Hindi film of the same name, directed by Arif Ali that stars Armaan Jain and Deeksha Seth in the lead roles. The film is jointly produced by Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan and Sunil Lulla under the banner of Eros International and Illuminati Films. The album features six tracks, and was digitally released on 13 June 2014 on Eros Music.
I is the soundtrack album to the 2015 Indian romantic thriller film of the same name written and directed by S. Shankar. A. R. Rahman composed the original songs and background score for the film. The album consists of seven tracks, which include a remix and a reprise. Songs in the film vary in genre like EDM, bhangra, opera, urban. The original version of the soundtrack has youth oriented voices. The original version of the album was released on 6 September 2014. The audio was launched at a grand function at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai on 12 September 2014, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the chief guest.
Tamasha is the soundtrack album, composed by A. R. Rahman with song lyrics by Irshad Kamil, to the 2015 Hindi film of the same name, directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. The album features nine tracks, and was released on 16 October 2015 by T-Series. The songs cover genres like European dance, bhangra, opera, Hindustani classical and dubstep apart from experimental fusion of genres.