Carter Burwell awarded ASCAP Career Achievement
LiC favorite Carter Burwell has somehow managed to avoid getting a single Oscar nomination for the nearly 70 feature film scores he’s composed in the last 25 years, but tonight his peers in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers saw fit to award him a career achievement award at the 24th Film and Television Music Awards gala.
In addition to scoring every film by Joel and Ethan Coen except O Brother Where Art Thou?, Burwell’s credits include In Bruges, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Hoax, Three Kings, and Velvet Goldmine.
None of those films exactly lit up the Oscars so it’s not a surprise Burwell was overlooked. The Coen film with the most Oscar action, No Country For Old Men, also happend to have the slimmest of Burwell scores, but no love for Fargo? That’s not right.
Source: Variety
Filed under: Awards
Tags: ASCAP, Carter Burwell
It’s a travesty that CARTER BURWELL has never been nominated for an OSCAR. He’s an immensely talented man.
But at least ASCAP had the excellent sense to honour him. It’s about time.
Have to confess one thing. I really loathed FARGO when I saw late in 96. To me, it felt like a bad joke that had no punchline. (I’ve since come to a grudging acceptance of it. But I’m never going to think that it’s great.)
We have one of those Encore movie channels in our basic cable package. You know the ones that program a select number of films and show the same ones over and over again for about a month…and then go into a new rotation? That particular channel programs films from the 60s to the 90s.
This is a couple of years ago. One of those motion pictures happened to be FARGO. I watched it a couple of times and caught bits and pieces of it here and there.
BUT THAT SCORE…
It haunted me. It was so beautiful and pure. But it had enormous power and a profound yearning quality to it. By the second time, I couldn’t get it out of my head. It certainly provided FRANCES’ “little bit of money” speech at the end with a greater depth and focus.
After hating that movie for so many years, I finally admitted that I liked it enough to buy the soundtrack.
Never would’ve expected that to happen in a million years. Funny how these things work, huh…?
Thanks for this, Craig.
Mr. Burwell is definitely someone worthy of recognition.
Yeah seriously, like Fargo or don’t, but the score is terrific.
Fargo IS kind of a joke without a punchline which is one of the things I like about it. I can see however where such a thing has a limited appeal.
Cool that you can at least see the good in it (Soundtrack…and I’d add the cinematography) even if the rest of it isn’t your cuppa.
I was actually a little surprised Burwell hadn’t received so much as a nomination since if your name is Randy Newman (or Thomas Newman…or Lionel…must be the last name) they’re practically throwing the things at you.
But then looking at his filmmography as I said above there just aren’t a lot of movies in there that got Oscar love besides Fargo.
My favorite Burwell scores are those for Fargo and Miller’s Crossing. I can’t think of the films without hearing them. What I particularly find effective is the slight sense of disconnect between the absurdist black humor and movie genre pastiche elements and the more serious and elegiac tone of the scores. The gravitas and emotional depth of the music signposts and helps to connect with the Coens deeper thematic concerns.
It has the effect of grounding those films which could otherwise be smirking exercises in sarcasm.
Fargo and Miller’s Crossing to be sure, but I always have to go back to Raising Arizona. The music to that film is amazing, especially the long intro section where the music carries the energy and humor of that long montage before erupting into the main theme. His work on Being John Malkovich and The Hoax is also excellent, which doesn’t help.
I think part of the problem is that Burwell’s best scores are all Coen Brothers films and they’ve been virtually ignored by the Academy and Golden Globes for most of their careers. Most of Burwell’s other work is for less than stellar movies.
Loves me some Raising Arizona. Not exactly the same as some of his later, more stately scores….which makes it even more likeable.
Yeah…
In my morning slumber I forgot to add kudos for Mr. Burwell’s astonishing work on BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD.
That was my #4 of 2007. Can’t even imagine that fabulous film without that great score.
The Devil score was very fine indeed. But Raising Arizona definitely ranks right up there given the integral role it plays in a brilliant film.
Kael didn’t completely get it but I liked her description of RA as a monkeyshines burlesque of people who feel they can’t live without an infant to cuddle. Burwell’s score helped make the monkeyshines sparkle.