I think the real measure of a movie’s effectiveness is how it makes you feel months or years later when you think about it. I have films on my top ten lists — like Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s A Very Long Engagement (2004), to pick one at random — that impressed me at the time but fail to move me at all as I think back on them.
But Ratatouille, one of Pixar’s finest achievements (which is saying a lot), never fails to stir me. Just looking at the large version of the image to the right when saving it for this entry, I was filled with the urge to pop the DVD in the machine and soak in the beautiful sights and sounds of this wonderful film.
This blog entry deals primarily with the sounds, and specifically the music of Michael Giacchino. I first discovered Giacchino through his fine work on J.J. Abrams’ Alias. His music never failed to heighten the tension, especially when he pulled out his signature move, the slow cacophony of violins accompanying some mind-bending twist at the end of an episode. He showed up again in Abram’s Lost, and brought the same tension and mystery to his score.
Giacchino’s first stab at a big screen score was his superb work on The Incredibles. That whiz-bang James Bond-meets-Superman soundscape remains one of my favorite film scores. He has done some other film work since then, including Abram’s Star Trek and the latest Pixar film, Up.
But perhaps his finest work, rivaling even his score for The Incredibles, is found in Brad Bird’s Ratatouille. Embracing the French setting, Giacchino composed a dizzying blend of violin, flute, piano and accordion and captured both the romantic majesty of Paris and the quicksilver scampering of a rat through the sewers and walls of the city.
He also penned the lovely song featured today, performed by French songstress Camille.
Ils donn(ent) de la joie ou bien du chagrin
Affaibli par la faim je suis malheureux
Volant en chemin tout ce que je peux
Car rien n’est gratuit dans la vie
L’espoir est un plat bien trop vite consommé
A sauter les repas je suis habitué
Un voleur solitaire est triste à nourrir
A un jeu si amer je n’peux réussir
Car rien n’est gratuit dans…
La vie… Jamais on ne me dira
Que la course aux étoiles; ça n’est pas pour moi
Laissez moi vous émerveiller et prendre mon en vol
Nous allons en fin nous régaler
La fêt(e) va enfin commencer
Sortez les bouteilles; finis les ennuis
Je dresse la table, de ma nouvell(e) vie
Je suis heureux à l’idée de ce nouveau destin
Une vie à me cacher et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin
Une vie à me cacher et puis libre enfin
Le festin est sur mon chemin
English lyrics:
Dreams are to lovers as wine is to friends
Carried through lifetimes, (and) spilled now and then
I am driven by hunger, so saddened to be
Thieving in darkness; I know you’re not pleased
But nothing worth eating is free
My hope is a banquet impatiently downed
Impossibly full, now I’ll probably drown
Many thieves’ lives are lonely with one mouth to feed
If giving means taking, I’ll never succeed
For nothing worth stealing is…
Free at last; won’t be undersold
Surviving isn’t living; won’t eat what I’m told
Let me free, I’ll astonish you; I’m planning to fly
I won’t let this party just pass me by
The banquet is now underway, so…
Bring out the bottles; a new tale has spun
In clearing this table, my new life’s begun
I am nervous, excited; (oh) just read the marquee!
A lifetime of hiding; I’m suddenly free!
My dinner is waiting for me
A lifetime of hiding; I’m suddenly free!
My dinner is waiting for me
And a bonus, ‘Wall Rat’:
Meet Me In Montauk 
i really had no idea who this guy was, although I certainly do know his music from Incredibles, Lost, Star Trek and Ratatouille. Major cudos to anyone who can write such diverse and effective music!
No sarcasm from Dana? No, “oh, THE Michael Giacchino”? Perhaps, he has more reverance for composers? 🙂
I, too, am unfamiliar with his name, though I became very familiar with his soundtrack for The Incredibles, when we made it the soundtrack to a joint birthday party for Maddie and Daniel. With Dad doling out Frozone’s sno cones to a majestic score by Mr. Giacchino.
Where in the film does today’s song play? Is it over the final scene of Remy overseeing the kitchen in his own restaurant? I don’t remember the song at all, but the lyrics fit that moment.
I’ve always considered it a particularly special art to create scores for films, for if you’re doing your job right, people are paying far less attention to your gorgeous/haunting/sad/jaunty music than they are to the images the music accompanies. It is the work of a particularly selfless artist. And it provides the perfect example of what a collaborative art filmmaking is. Can you imagine Raiders of the Lost Ark without John Williams’ score? Or E.T.? Or Jaws? I think you ought to have a theme week devoted to John Williams, for crying out loud. And the same is true of so many other great composers, whose names are not nearly as well-knows as that of Spielberg’s right hand music man.
I’m going to go try to find Giacchino’s work in Lost and Alias. You’ve got me very curious about those violins 🙂
This song does play over that final scene of Ratatouille and into the end credits.
John Williams is indeed the gold standard for film composers… his music is as important to those Spielberg movies as Spielberg!
I tried digging around but I couldn’t find any good violin-ending scenes from Alias or Lost. The best example is the ending of ‘Phase One,’ the Super Bowl episode, but it’s nowhere to be found.
I did find this awesome fight scene from the season two finale:
I was wondering why this was a good example of music – then 2:17 clocked in 🙂
Daniel walked in while I was watching, and there were many shouts of “awesome” along with some closed eyes and anxiety. Did Quentin Tarantino direct this episode? 😉 I’ve been wondering if this isn’t the summer to watch Alias. Perhaps it is.
Nope, J.J. Abrams.
Tarantino actually appeared in an Alias episode in Season One… he’s a big fan. In fact, I believe Alias inspired Kill Bill to some degree (the first season preceded Kill Bill by a couple of years).
Seasons One and Two of Alias are absolutely must-see TV. After that things went downhill with a few bright spots. You can’t go wrong watching those first two seasons, though.
After that, Abrams went off to make Lost and he didn’t have a Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof on Alias to take over the reins and make it even better.
Over lunch, Daniel and Maddie were full of questions about Alias. I told them I was not their person; they really needed to bend the ear of their aunt and uncle. Still, when I explained the reason you posted the scene, Daniel asked incredulously, “We were supposed to notice the music?!”
Actually, I didn’t post it for the music. I just like the scene. 🙂
Well, that’s quite unfair to poor Giacchino, isn’t it?
Well, to keep my reputation in tact, I must say…You mean THE Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof?!?!
Surely you know Lindelof and Cuse! What self-respecting Lost fan doesn’t?! 🙂
I’d be thrilled to highlight some of Giacchino’s TV work, but YouTube has not been very cooperative (or rather, ABC hasn’t).