by John Sayles
The use of prerecorded music in movies is a form of alchemy. Martin Scorsese and Jonathan Demme come to mind as two of the most accomplished alchemists still working, the success of their efforts not in creating a name-that-tune familiarity with the track, but in finding the chanson juste that lifts a moment or a sequence in spirit and either comments on or cements the meaning of the on-screen action.