Ironic Soundtracks

While so many soundtracks seem to exist solely to underline the tone of a scene, unexpected musical cues can completely recontextualize and undermine its action. The idea of the soundtrack as counterpoint entered the mainstream with directors like Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick, and, at a certain point, became a bad cliché itself. This episode of The Film Comment Podcast, scripted by Sean Doyle, traces the evolution of ironic music in film from its earliest and most infamous uses to today.