ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that in the case-study analyses of four films and their scores and soundtracks, each of the films discussed was produced during the 1980s or early 1990s. It argues that in each case the interpretation of their soundtracks- and scores-as-critique reflected a reaction to the high-profile resurgence of classical scoring practices which accompanied the rise of the blockbuster from the mid-1970s, and the rise in Hollywood's market share of US and European box-office receipts through the 1980s and on into the 1990s. The organization of sonic elements is not as strictly hierarchical as one would expect of classical soundtrack practice in which dialogue is prioritized over sound effects. In terms of scoring, through the intensification and exaggeration of classical scoring practices in Godard's Prenom: Carmen, the use of Beethoven String Quartets draws one's attention to these practices; practices such as providing continuity, for example, which are more usually organized around unobtrusiveness in classical scoring.
