On Sunday evening, viewers of HBO's The Last of Us were treated to a beautiful, heartbreaking episode of the love story between Bill and Frank, two men who found their way to each other in the midst of a fungi-pandemic. The episode itself was one of the best episodes of television in years. Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett stole the screen in their single episode of the year's most highly anticipated series, along with moving direction from Peter Hoar and writing from Craig Mazan. Viewers of the episode were also treated to a familiar, tear-jerking musical score.
That would be Max Richter's 'On the Nature of Daylight," the six-minute minor-key ode to sadness. It's the second track from the British composer's album The Blue Notebooks, originally released in 2004. It's usage in popular media has made it one of the most recognizable orchestrations around today, mirroring the popularity of Lux Aeterna from Clint Mansell's Requiem for a Dream score. The song has been used to supplement the scores of many critically-acclaimed movies and series of the 21st century. One of the earliest examples was Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. Disconnect used it prominently as well as Denis Villeneuve's Arrival. Arrival's already wonderful score from Johan Johansson was unfortunately disqualified at the Academy Awards for the movie's use of Max Richter's score. But it's the use as book ends of the movie that show the narrative strength "On the Nature of Daylight" provides to a scene. Something about the haunting minor strings plays with our hearts in a way that elevates the action of the camera behind it. The rise and fall of reverb sends chills down our entire body, unlocking emotions as soon as the violin kicks into the most memorable part of the song. What makes Richter's song so attractive to use is its minor dissonance, the chords perfectly played to invoke emotions of melancholy despair. The trailer for the popular game Death Stranding used it to set up the tone of the game before players even bought it. But, when coupled with a narrative journey that has its own artistic merits, "On the Nature of Daylight" shines brightest. Like Louise Banks (Amy Adams) in Arrival and Bill and Frank in The Last of Us, what came before Richter's score ever hits our ears is the emotional involvement of a character we deeply care about at the end of their journey. The emotion of On the Nature of Daylight works best when it's employing the narrative power of bittersweetness. Characters that are at the end of an arc, dealing with a sad journey but are able to appreciate the beauty of what laid before. That's what makes the song it's most powerful. It may also be cheating to bring in music to a narrative that viewers already hold in our hearts, associated with another story that we are emotionally involved in. But that's the beauty of music, compounding emotional catharsis so it sits with us greater, continuing to make us feel things as we progress through life. The Last of Us itself is a cinematic piece of excellence so far. And the weaponization of "On the Nature of Daylight" that turned me into a blubbering mess as Sunday turned into Monday on a dreary week only stays with me longer and will highlight the season when it's ended.
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Rob EnglishJust a kid from Pittsburgh trying to figure out my place in the world and write some things along the way. Archives
February 2024
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