Kormac on Mogwai’s broody and enthralling ‘Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait’ soundtrack
Sound Bites is our series of odes to the art of music in film.
Kormac is a DJ, producer, and composer from Dublin. We asked him to share his favorite sports movie score or soundtrack and what he loves about it. Here’s what he wrote:
Name: Kormac
Film Score: Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait
Composer: Mogwai
Why I love this film: Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is not your typical sports documentary. The film is focused entirely on Zidane during the La Liga match played between Real Madrid and Villarreal in 2005. It was filmed in real time using 17 cameras.
Why I love this score: I’d been a fan of Mogwai’s for some time and really, until that point, I hadn’t considered that recording artists like that could jump into film scoring. The movie is quite meditative and the score matches: it’s dark, broody, has a half-time feel (sorry) and guitars, organs, drums, and noisy echoes and effects feature heavily. The score also frequently takes over from the sounds inside the stadium as we read Zidane’s thoughts about his life, football, and how he experiences the game. At that time I kind of assumed sports soundtracks were largely orchestral and had huge dramatic, pacey scores, but this had all the instrumentation and texture that drew me to Mogwai in the first place. The soundtrack is on all the streamers, complete with an untitled hidden track. Well worth your time.
Stand-Out Track: “It Would Have Happened Anyway”. Really for the texture they create. Drone-y and noisy. Enthralling and climatic.