BlackBook

The most fascinating soundtracks provide a gateway into the world of its characters. When a film’s music wraps you in a blanket of sound that allows you to immerse yourself—incorporating the senses and heightening the experience—in a way that fully completes the director’s artistic vision and brings the story to life, that’s when a soundtrack becomes truly memorable. And if there’s anyone who knows understands the importance of symbiosis between filmmaker and composer, it’s the ingenious master of mood, the visionary maestro of cinematic sound, Clint Mansell.

Back when I was single, I didn't put too much stock in Valentine's Day. (I still don't, really; I'll probably stay in and watch movies with my boo.) But I also never really did it right, either. One year, I came home from work, opened a bottle of red wine, and watched the 1977 film version of Equus, which had just arrived from Netflix. You know, there's nothing like a lighthearted movie about a naked teenager murdering horses! It's quite charming. Another year, after my first boyfriend dumped me three days before Valentine's Day in a Chipotle, I stayed in with a friend (who had recently broken off her engagement) and watched The Departed. Not too cheery!

Darren Aronofsky once said, "I'm Godless. I've had to make my God, and my God is narrative filmmaking." And in the church of cinema, the 44-year-old director ranks high on the list of worship. As one of the most psychologically enticing and visually minded filmmakers working today, he creates haunting worlds full of desperate and passionate characters clinging to intangible ideals. As intelligent as he is artistic, Aronofsky's films come alive through his brilliant knowledge of how to tell a story through dialogue and images, but also characterized by the his ear for music and the help of composer Clint Mansell.

Artifact, a fascinating new documentary directed by actor and 30 Seconds to Mars front man Jared Leto (under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins) made its US premiere at the Doc NYC Fest last night in Chelsea. Focusing on 30 Seconds to Mars’ desire to leave its label, corporate behemoth EMI, the film reveals how the band discovered the seven-year contract termination choice loophole in its contract and the record label’s plans to sue them—for thirty million dollars.