Filmmakers have been taken with the subject of music since the introduction of synchronized sound in 1926. Music is rife with potential for cinematic exploration—being an art form, a conduit for connection, and a means of expression. There are a plethora of incredible music movies that focus on the concept or process of musical creation. Some viewers may be closed off from such features, associating them with fanciful musicals. However, musical movies and movie musicals are two distinct entities.
In movie musicals, characters express their emotions through song in place of dialogue, elevating the narrative into the fantastical. This is the case in La La Land when Mia Dolan and Sebastian Wilder’s disdain for one another turns into a theatrical tap duet.
In musical movies, the narrative centers on music as a subject. The plot is structured around songs and often includes numbers or performances that arise naturally in the narrative. This is the case for music mockumentaries such as the absurdly hilarious Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, or movies about musicians like Whiplash or Sound of Metal. Music movies are often adapted into full-blown stage musicals.
When given a chance, various fantastic music movies have the potential to astound any audience member, even those who don’t generally enjoy biopics or musicals. There are classic, current, and upcoming music movies that beautifully blend song and story to create an artistic symphony.
Once (2007)
Writer-director John Carney is fascinated by the way in which musicians converse through music. The Irish filmmaker has explored this concept throughout his cinematic career, starting with his 2007 film Once. Premiering at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, Once remains Carney’s highest-rated work and a fixture of music-movie history.
The film chronicles a blooming affection between a street musician (Glen Hansard) and a Czech immigrant (Markéta Irglová) who makes a living selling flowers. The two secret songwriters connect over shared musical aspirations. A melody of acoustic duets carries audiences through this soft romance.
Real-life singer-songwriters Hansard and Irglová collaborated to help create the intimate soundtrack. Their piece “Falling Slowly,” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Carney’s latest film, Power Ballad, explores music as a means of connection in a male friendship.
Almost Famous (2000)
At 16, wunderkind journalist Cameron Crowe joined the Allman Brothers Band on their 1973 tour, documenting the experience in his Rolling Stone cover story “The Allman Bros. Story.” The feature and Crowe’s somewhat traumatic experience with the band’s leading man inspired his 2000 film Almost Famous.
Almost Famous was adapted into a stage musical in 2019.
Almost Famous’ immaculate soundtrack delights in the best music has to offer, featuring legends such as The Who, Cat Stevens, and Led Zeppelin. Crowe frames the narrative with The Beach Boys’ “Feel Flows,” as a tribute to his late sister, who loved the band and introduced young Crowe to the magic of music (via People). Crowe also tips his hat to the band that started it all, featuring an Allman Bros song in the iconic soundtrack.
School Of Rock (2003)
School of Rock is a feel-good love letter to rock. While posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious private school, struggling musician Dewey Finn (Jack Black) forms a student band to compete in the battle of the bands. While teaching the kids about rock music and culture, Finn rediscovers the joy of music outside his rock star complex.
The School Rock soundtrack is a “music 101″ lesson, populated by legends such as The Clash, AC/DC, and Stevie Nicks. The film’s original songs still manage to stand out in this stacked soundtrack, including Black’s own “The Legend of the Rent” and “Math is a Wonderful Thing.”
The Battle of the Bands number “School of Rock” is the only full-length performance in the film. Penned by writer and director Mike White, this original song brings the narrative to an epic, heartfelt, and satisfying conclusion.
Sing Street (2016)
John Carney’s first two music movies—Once (2007) and Begin Again (2013)—are sincere, adult romances set to an acoustic strum. Sing Street departs from soft sincerity to enter the ironic world of a love-struck punk-obsessed teen.
In 1980s Dublin, a frustrated teenager (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) forms a band to impress a girl (Lucy Boynton), and finds his voice in the process. Carney expertly and naturally weaves music throughout the narrative, literalizing the protagonist’s emotional experience without becoming corny or fanciful. The stellar soundtrack includes rock legends such as Duran Duran, Motörhead, The Jam, and The Cure. However, Sing Street‘s original tracks, performed by the actors, steal the show.
Carney sacrifices some historical accuracy to craft the perfect soundtrack, but the timeline goofs are easy to overlook in this uplifting flick. Sing Street works to leave audiences smiling, humming, and reminiscing.
Coda (2021)
A CODA is a child of deaf adults, while the Coda is the concluding musical passage. This dual meaning makes for the perfect title to Siân Heder’s adaptation of the French film La Famille Bélier. CODA follows teen Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing member of her family, as she grapples with a desire to pursue singing at a prestigious college and a sense of obligation to remain with her family.
Jones gives breathtaking vocal performances throughout the film, with a particularly moving rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Ruby (Jones) performs the song during her climactic music school audition. Ignoring the panel, she signs the lyrics for her family as she sings—including them in her dream and embodying the universality of music.
The heartfelt feature won all three of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.
That Thing You Do! (1996)
Tom Hanks’ 1996 directorial debut, That Thing You Do! is a rose-colored remembrance of a bygone era. The fictitious nostalgia movie follows the rise of a 1960s Beatles-esque band, The Wonders.
The film’s title is based on the one-hit Wonders’ popular song. In the film, lead singer Jimmy Mattingly (Johnathon Schaech) writes the song as a sleepy ballad, and drummer Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) turns it into a groovy hit.
In reality, musician Adam Schlesinger wrote the beachy earworm for the movie. Billboard named “That Thing You Do” “one of the best ‘fake’ songs in film history.” The genius number sounds as if it were plucked directly from the 1960s’ British Invasion era. Several other bops from the soundtrack were written or co-written by Hanks himself, including “Lovin’ You Lots and Lots.”
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
The Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis follows 1960s folksinger Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) on a melancholy odyssey to seek his breakthrough. The film explores the pain of artistic creation and the catch-22 of requiring success to not sell out yet having to sell out to succeed.
Llewyn Davis is loosely based on folk singer Dave Van Ronk, whose song “Green, Green Rocky Road” concludes the film. Produced by T Bone Burnett, the soundtrack is a mix of folk-revival classics and original tracks. Much of the acoustic soundtrack is occupied by Oscar Isaac’s soft, somber timbre, with additional vocal performances by Marcus Mumford, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Driver.
The intimate film and soundtrack are melancholy yet darkly humorous.
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
This Is Spinal Tap, the “rockumentary,” is one of the most influential music mockumentaries of all time. This is director Rob Reiner’s debut film and, while not his most acclaimed, it is perhaps his funniest.
The mockumentary follows the fictitious rock band, Spinal Tap, played by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer. The movie heightens the goofiest aspects of the 1980s rock scene, with outrageous costumes and stage theatrics gone wrong.
Reiner carefully adheres to the music documentary form, and the original songs are genuinely clever and catchy. As such, some initial audiences mistook This Is Spinal Tap as a serious documentary. While the movie is completely farcical, it did propel the satirical band into a real rock sensation. Following the film, Spinal Tap went on tours and released a follow-up album.
Velvet Goldmine (1998)
Velvet Goldmine is a surreal film that transforms glam-rock into its own living, breathing character.
Directed by experimental filmmaker Todd Haynes, Velvet Goldmine follows a journalist’s investigation into the disappearance of fictional rock icon (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), partly based on David Bowie. In his investigation, the journalist speaks with another rock legend (Ewan McGregor), partly based on Iggy Pop. The non-linear narrative unfolds in a delirious collage of remembered musical performances.
The soundtrack notably lacks Bowie, who declined to license his music for the project. Instead, 1990s rock artists dominate the phenomenal soundtrack with covers of ’70s hits such as Roxy Music’s “2HB.” Shudder To Think and Grant Lee Buffalo provide the film’s original songs, performed in an uncanny glam-rock impersonation.
Velvet Goldmine is an amalgamation of disparate references that culminates to embody the spirit of glam rock.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
The Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a deep-south folk adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey. The music-centric movie follows three runaway chain gang members who embark on an epic adventure to find a fabled treasure. Along the way, the outlaws become an accidental radio sensation as the Soggy Bottom Boys with their rendition of “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow.”
Produced by T-Bone Burnett, the soundtrack is credited with sparking a 21st-century bluegrass revival. The lauded soundtrack features folk, gospel, and bluegrass classics such as Harry McClintock’s 1928 “The Big Rock Candy Mountain” and Ada Blenkhorn’s 1899 “Keep On The Sunny Side.”
Passing these fabled songs to new generations, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Perpetuates the folk tradition on an epic scale. The groundbreaking soundtrack sold about nine million copies and won the 2002 Grammy for Album of the Year (via NPR).