Forget Zimmer’s epic soundtracks and Williams’ brooding scores, some of the most unforgettable musical moments in cinematic history have been created with popular music – familiar tracks which momentarily bridge the gap between a film’s world and your own. The technique often runs the risk of being televisual and ‘gimmicky’, yet the finest directors are sensitive to the way certain records can enhance films in strange and compelling ways.

One needs only to look at this year’s Oscar nominations to see how masterfully the technique can be executed; in The Wolf of Wall Street Scorsese juxtaposes a party scene of bacchanalian excess with Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom”, 12 Years A Slave sees an achingly powerful rendition of John Legend’s “Roll Jordan Roll”,  Jennifer Lawrence performs an angry, alcohol-fuelled living-room solo of “Live And Let Die” in American Hustle while George Clooney in Gravity hauntingly listens to the folk song “Angels Are Hard to Find” as he floats into the void.

With this in mind, I’ve ordered my fifteen favourite examples of the way songs have been incorporated into movies. 

15) Enya – “Orinoco Flow”(The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – 2011)

Stellan Skarsgard meandering over to his cassette player to switch on the mellow, new-age melody of Enya’s 1988 track while Daniel Craig hangs breathless in a harness, ready to be tortured. It is one of the most deliciously creepy moments of recent cinema; an episode which alone justifies the $100 million remake of the Swedish thriller. David Fincher had already done something similar in his 2007 film Zodiac, playing out the serial-killer’s first crime against Donovan’s “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” assuring that you will never listen to these tracks in the same way again.

14)  Elton John – “Tiny Dancer” (Almost Famous – 2000)

Whilst I wasn’t as struck with Cameron Crowe’s film as many were and nor am I particularly fond of Elton John, it’s frankly very difficult not to be swept up in this emotional rendition of “Tiny Dancer”. What begins as a seemingly commonplace musical sequence becomes (about 1 minute in) a collaborative cathartic release for the tensions within the band. A real gem.

13)  Kym Mazelle – “Young Hearts Run Free” (Romeo + Juliet – 1996)

Yes, you’re probably sick of the film (probably having watched it on repeat in GCSE English lessons) but that doesn’t detract from the thrill of watching Shakespeare’s Mercutio transformed into a sassy drag-queen who performs a dazzlingly camp dance-routine to this disco anthem at the Capulets’ party. Bizarre. Then again, this is the director who made stage thespian Jim Broadbent sing Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” in Moulin Rouge and introduced Fitzgerald’s “Jazz Age” New York with the music of Jay-Z and Andre 3000.

12) Chuck Berry – “You Never Can Tell” (Pulp Fiction – 1994)

It’s a classic film with so many brilliant tracks. While one could choose Neil Diamond’s “Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon” or Dusty Springfield’s “Son Of A Preacher Man”, it is Chuck Berry’s track which gets to accompany the famous dance sequence between Uma Thurman and John Travolta.

11) Roberta Flack – “Killing Me Softly” (About A Boy – 2002)

It’s a moment up with there with Hugh Grant’s dance to “Jump” by The Pointer Sisters in Love Actually, but this scene is particularly heart-warming, with a young Hugh Grant helping out an even younger Nicholas Hoult in the school talent show.

10) The Faces – “Ooh La La” (Rushmore – 1998)

Wes Anderson’s second feature film tells the story of eccentric teenager Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) and his doomed love for elementary school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams). Although unsuccessful in his love, Fischer is granted a dance with Cross in the final scene – a beautiful ending.

9) Tears For Fears – “Head Over Heels” (Donnie Darko – 2001)

A brilliantly weird sequence in this movie masterpiece. The new-wave British band’s 1984 hit plays as the camera pans through Darko’s high-school corridor and courtyard, fitting in perfectly with a film which is, at once, both banal and psychadelic (especially with the short but hilarious sequence following the 01:50 drumroll). 

8) Huey Lewis and The News – “Hip To Be Square” (American Psycho – 2000)

Christian Bale gives the most fantastically neurotic performance of his career in this film, culminating in this scene in which he critically analyses “Huey Lewis and The News” before chopping Jared Leto to bits. The band apparently refused to allow the song to appear on the film’s album soundtrack, criticising the scene’s violence, but its inclusion perfectly captures the horrific comedy of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel.

7) Hall & Oates – “You Make My Dreams Come True” (500 Days Of Summer – 2009)

500 Days of Summer is a “love it or hate it” rom-com containing hazardous levels of “quirkiness”, yet even this surreal sequence of Joseph Gordon Levitt feeling on top of the world is sure to warm the heart of the most cynical viewer. No? Congratulations, you really are a cynic.

6)  Edvard Grieg – “In The Hall of The Mountain King” (The Social Network – 2010)

Perhaps it is a stretch to call Grieg’s 1876 orchestral piece “popular music” – especially when it has been dazzlingly remixed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, yet The Social Network’s Henley Regatta sequence is a virtuoso piece of film-making which is made more enthralling by a striking update on this familiar classical track. (The film also closes with a brilliant use of The Beatles’ “Baby You’re A Rich Man”).

5) The Shins – “New Slang” (Garden State – 2004)

Garden State was a remarkable directorial debut for Zach Braff. About 30 minutes in, the protagonist meets Natalie Portman’s character who plays him this “The Shins” track in the doctor’s waiting room. It’s an incredible moment, and one only wishes Braff had kept the song playing for a couple more seconds. Nevertheless, we can expect more Braff magic in his Sundance-acclaimed second feature Wish I Was Here out later 2014.

4)  Dick Burnett – “Man Of Constant Sorrow” (O Brother, Where Art Thou? – 2000)

The Coen brothers here demonstrate a love of folk music (which has been rekindled this year with Inside Llewyn Davis) with this George Clooney led rendition of the traditional Dick Burnett track. The performance plays a central part in the movie, unwittingly turning three prisoners into a famous musical act called “The Soggy Bottom Boys”. The movie’s entire album soundtrack is awesome.

3) Stealers Wheel – “Stuck In The Middle With You” (Reservoir Dogs -1992)

Tarantino’s second appearance on the list is a classic piece of film-making, an infamously violent scene set against the 1972 folk-rock hit. Our simultaneous horror and complicit enjoyment of Michael Madsen’s sociopathic act broke generic boundaries which paved the way for David Fincher and Mary Harron’s similar use of the technique (see above).

2) Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley – “If I Had Words” (Babe – 1995)

A sentimental choice it may be, but Babe is an absolute gem of a movie. Criminally, it is the only film of James Cromwell’s career to earn him an Academy Award nomination but it is deserving recognition nonetheless; in this scene he sings the 1978 UK hit to his “sheep-pig” before breaking out into a glorious dance routine. Beautiful stuff.

1) Roachford – “Cuddly Toy” (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa – 2013)

Steve Coogan said in an interview that this sequence was initially only filmed to be used as a short clip, but the single 90 second shot made it into the movie in its entirety – and it’s pure genius, with Partridge on his commute to work lip-syncing better than Beyoncé. While not the best film on the list, this opening sequence is unforgettable.

★★★★★

Five Stars

The Railway man is a film about the loss and then regaining of humanity. The plot, taken from Erik Lomax’s autobiographical novel, is that of Lomax’s capture amongst the British forces in Singapore by the Japanese Imperial Army. While there Lomax (played by Jeremy Irvine as a youth and Colin Firth as the elder) attempts to build a radio for information about the British forces and is tortured horrifically by the Kempetai for doing so. His experiences are unveiled through a series of flashbacks, at first the memory mixes with the present as the Japanese interpreter, Takashi Nagase, is seen walking through a restaurant in post-war Britain.

Jeremy Irvine performed these torture scenes himself and the agony echoes throughout the cinema hall. A startlingly powerful performance, the younger Lomax’s suffering is contrasted with the moody pensiveness of Firth as we begin to understand the elder Lomax’s mental pain. But this is not just a story about the horrors of the victim; it also delves into the psychological agony of the oppressor. The younger Nagese (played by Tanroh Ishida) is a ruthless member of the Japanese torture squad. An individual to which the young Lomax pleads to as he is the only English speaker. The elder Nagese (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) is tracked down by Lomax in the 1980s and the allure of revenge is tempting. His eventual forgiving of Nagese could perhaps disclose a mismatch between the plot and film genre.

To begin to understand Lomax’s thought process, a gruelling mulling over of his suffering, the limited spheres of filmography can be insufficient. Nagese’s contrition, understandably so as the film is told from Lomax’s point of view, is also harder to grasp due to the omission of his battling with guilt. This can make the film’s denouement surprising; the enduring friendship of Lomax and Nagese can seem hasty, although the limitations of film make this likely.

The film is not only a representation of the atrocities of World War II; it is also about the forgiveness given to those guilty. Lomax’s marriage to Patti (Nicole Kidman) is, according to his fellow prisoner Finlay (played by Stellan Skarsgard who oddly makes no attempt at an English accent), the saving factor in his inner pain. Equally the friendship evolving from the agony of the torture chamber is a softening of the past. The wounds are coaxed through the passage of time. The film expresses this healing by ironically intermingling time periods. This interchanging means that friendship and love remain as much a part of the film as the horrors of the prisoner camp and we are reminded of this throughout.

Born and bred in South-East London, performance poet Kate Tempest has supported acts such as John Cooper Clarke, Scroobius Pip and Billy Bragg. She has also performed to homeless people and in prisons, having started out ‘rapping at strangers on night busses and pestering mc’s to let her on the mic at raves’.

Temple’s disarmingly unassuming English-rose appearance belies a truly bewitching, lyrical performance style which mixes intimacy with passionate conviction. She speaks – sometimes almost seems to sing – about social issues which are all too often forgotten in today’s music. Last year, she won the Ted Hughes award for innovation in poetry, a ground-breaking achievement in a world where performance poets are often not taken nearly seriously enough as artists. It is so easy to forget that once, spoken poetry was almost the only form of poetry. It is the oldest and most powerful of arts. Tempest’s mingling of poetry and theatre sees her joining an oral literary tradition that leads back through Chaucer to the Medieval lyricists and Classical dramatists, but with the energy of hip-hop.

In the Prologue to her award-winning show Brand New Ancients she addresses it to the ‘plight of a people who have forgotten their myths, and imagine that somehow, now is all there is’. The show is a modern-day epic following two South-East London families as their lives intertwine, set over the backdrop of an orchestra. The guy with big glasses and a scarf selling me books at the Royal Court Theatre said I have to see it.

Kate Tempest comes to the North Wall on the 25^th and 26^th of February.