Movie Review – Music by John Williams
Principal Cast : John Williams, featuring Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Ke Huy Quan, JJ Abrams, Seth McFarlane, Kate Capshaw, Chris Columbus, James Mangold, George Lucas, Lawrence Kasdan, Kathleen Kennedy, Alan Silvestri, Thomas Newman, Chris Martin, Frank Marshall, Itzhak Perlman, David Newman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gustavo Dudamel.
Synopsis: A documentary following the life and career of legendary composer John Williams.
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There are few icons of pop culture who’ve had a more influential presence over the cinematic medium than legendary composer John Williams. My personal hero, a man to whom I owe my love of cinema and music, and quite possibly the closest we have come to a modern day Mozart or Beethoven, Williams’ legacy not only of orchestral film scoring but adjacent symphonic and televisual works is unmatched by any current contemporary, with perhaps the exception of Hans Zimmer. The man’s body of work is synonymous with the screen, from the simple two-note motif of Jaws, the bombast of Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park, to the melancholy of Schindlers’ List, The Colour Purple and Munich, Williams’ collaborations with both Spielberg (whose Amblin production house produced this documentary for Disney+) and George Lucas during the last four decades have produced some of music’s most celebrated themes, not to mention spawned countless imitators and enthused innumerable scions, such is the scope and width of his influence. It’s perhaps somewhat disappointing, then, to find this documentary to be more of a tribute than an examination of the man’s life and work, an altogether kind and hospitable triumphant “greatest hits” parade of success without diving deeper into the creative process and background to a man I gather is rather reclusive with his personal life.
That isn’t to say that Music By John Williams is nothing if not utterly wonderful, and the stellar cast of talking heads assembled to wax lyrical about Williams’ vast talent and personable career is indeed astonishing, I just wish it had been a) longer and b) more intuitively detailed about his creative process. Spielberg, Lucas and Williams briefly wander through the early concepts for Jaws, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Star Wars and ET, notable for being perhaps the composers’ most evocative creations, but the film really only glosses over the composers’ later career, skips nearly entirely his Oscar nomination and wins, and only skims the surface of his early life and prodigious musical talent. I mean, the film is engaging and enthusiastic about its subject, and with access to Williams’ library of work you get all the major touchstones you expect – Star Wars, Jurassic Park, the Superman march, Catch Me If You Can (I was surprised to learn here that Williams was a massive jazz buff in his early career, playing, orchestrating and composing a number of early 60’s and 70’s film scores infused with this style) et al. My expectations were higher that we’d delve deeper into Williams’ creative drive, his thematic and musical process, a lot more than what we end up getting, but if your only expectation is a dazzling assemblage of his best known works (and a few surprises) then Music by John Williams absolutely works wonders. Look; we won’t have much longer with this man living among us, and I’m pleased that retrospective glimpses into his storied career are underway and inevitable. I just wish this toe-dip into his process was more of a plunge. Superbly enjoyable, albeit not as enveloping as I’d have expected, Music by John Williams is hugely recommended.
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