The film medium has long had its eye pointed at music, as an art form, as a passion, as a force of unity or destruction. The universal language aspects of both music and film have led to some bold explorations of music's importance and power in our everyday lives.
Whether it's documenting the formation of a band, the use of music as a tool of romance, or even the way music can guide many through the worst of times, films about music is a rich subgenre of film. Here are the ten best to ever do it, according to IMDb.
10 Frank (7.0):
A delightfully strange story from Normal People's Lenny Abrahamson, 2014's Frank told the story of the world's least mainstream band as they go through the process of recording their album with a new keyboard player, our eyes into this bizarro world of boundless creativity.
The titular scene-stealer is played impeccably by Michael Fassbender, the band's enigmatic lead singer who refuses to remove a giant fake head from his body. Unnerving, hilarious, and stuffed with off-kilter songs, Frank is one of the most unique musical comedies to come around the last decade.
9 School of Rock (7.1):
Jack Black has never topped his 2003 performance in this crowd-pleasing comedy about a ne'er-do-well metal singer who fakes his way into being a substitute teacher at an über-posh prep school. Eventually, he discovers the students are musically gifted and drafts them into forming a rock band.
Black is perfectly cast alongside a stand-out ensemble of young musician-actors, including Miranda Cosgrove. A wonderful and clever musical-comedy, School of Rock, is something of a modern family classic.
8 The Piano Teacher (7.5):
Michael Haneke has been provoking film snobs for decades. One of his greatest works is this adaptation of Elfriede Jelinek's novel about the relationship between the titular masochist and her younger pupil. With erotic and off-putting turns, Haneke's vision is uncompromising in its exploration of sexual fantasy and the nature of physical and emotional pain.
Additionally, the music of classical pianists like Shubert plays a major role in the life of the main character, Erika. Brilliant, yet profoundly disturbing, The Piano Teacher is unforgettable and a major highlight for the auteur behind it.
7 Hedwig and the Angry Inch (7.7):
John Cameron Mitchell's campy glam musical opus is truly in a world of its own. The film tells the tragicomic story of a transgender lead singer of a band doomed to haunt dive bars and seafood restaurants for the duration of their career.
The flashback origins of Hedwig's "Angry Inch" are heartwrenching, combining razor-sharp wit with Shakespearean level ironic sadness. Furthermore, the absurdist material is written, directed, and performed flawlessly. A stylish, melancholy, and fun glitter-covered romp, Hedwig and the Angry Inch earns its stature among fellow cult-classics.
6 Once (7.8):
Part folk-musical, part downtrodden mumblecore romance, John Carney's Once is a minor indie masterwork. Unabashedly Irish in tone, location, and spirit, the film's loose narrative weaves around a quasi-romance between a busking songwriter and a shy foreigner with a similar level of musical talent.
The duo's understated chemistry, especially when discussing or performing their original songs, is a thing of quiet beauty to behold. A masterclass in restraint and emotional songwriting Once kickstarted a so-far no duds career for Carney with the excellent Begin Again and even better Sing Street following this debut. Still, Once remains his best effort.
5 Almost Famous (7.9):
After tackling nice guy angst and ushering in the 90s with Say Anything..., Cameron Crowe welcomed the naughties with his semi-autobiographical rock 'n' road movie, Almost Famous. Featuring a stacked lineup of young early 2000s character actors like Jason Lee and Billy Crudup, Crowe's hit-laden odyssey tells the story of a talented young music writer who is given the opportunity to hit the road and chronicle the tour-life of an upcoming rock band.
Slick, emotional, and fun, Almost Famous is Crowe's best and most personal film. Particularly memorable is the scene when the entire van belts out Elton John's "Tiny Dancer."
4 This Is Spinal Tap (7.9):
Christopher Guest has carved out quite a niche career for himself in the mockumentary world. The first of his loose series of faux docs is this 1984 farce directed by none other than Rob Reiner, in his feature film directorial debut.
Mixing improvisation and timelessly hilarious setpieces, Reiner and Guest concocted one of the most ingenious parody films of all time. Additionally, the film's many lampoons of the metal music industry are spot-on and have aged well in the 25+ years since its initial release.
3 Amadeus (8.3):
A film essentially scored by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus is nothing short of movie magic. A heavily fictionalized account of the personal and professional rivalry between composers Antonio Salieri and W.A. Mozart. Mozart's music ostensibly occupies the role of the secondary protagonist, highlighting the talent gap between the two.
As Mozart's life becomes more and more hedonistic, Salieri gradually comes up with a fiendish revenge plot on his rival, and God himself. Considered one of the great motion pictures of the 80s, Amadeus nabbed 8 Academy Awards in 1984 and brought Mozart a whole new audience.
2 The Pianist (8.5):
Unfortunately, like all his films, Roman Polanski's The Pianist is doomed to be judged by the sins of its creator. Regardless, the film itself is a once-in-a-lifetime experience about the power of music.
Adrien Brody won Best Actor for his portrayal of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a classical pianist who is caught up in the German invasion of Poland during WWII. The film is both depressing and uplifting, working from an excellent script by Ronald Harwood that spends much of its runtime exploring Szpilman's experiences playing his music for the world as it burns around him.
1 Whiplash (8.5):
It's hard to think of a more confident and electrifying debut that gets as much right as Damien Chazelle's Whiplash. A musical thriller, the film looks at the strained relationship between a young and ambitious jazz drummer and his extremely aggressive professor, played by a career-best J.K. Simmons.
As much a rumination on the price of greatness as it is a love letter to Jazz music and artistic passions, Whiplash is one of the most entertaining musical films ever and contains one of modern cinema's great endings.
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