'Bolero'
Written, arranged and
produced by Steve Sharples
Solo violin by Simon Standage
When the credits appear at the end of a movie, the audience automatically begins to 'switch off'. We know that the credits signal the end of the film, and so it is only natural that our minds begin to return to thoughts of the real world. However, there are some movies that make you sit there those few moments longer. There are some movies that succeed in making you so transfixed by what is happening onscreen, you can't just bring yourself to just 'switch off' - you need to unwind first. There are some movies that have such a profound effect that you feel the need to think things over a while longer before you leave the cinema; you need some time to absorb all that has happened. These are all signs of a great movie - one that requires some thoughtful credit presentation to influence your final interpretation of the film.
This version of Bolero is an instrumental piece that serves to slowly draw us out of the world of the Moulin Rouge while still letting its themes linger in our mind. We begin with the gentle notes of a piano in a rather sad, disbelieving tune. Slow violins and some operatic chords heighten our overwhelming sense of tragic loss. But then a tambourine begins to play. The beat begins to thrive and suddenly the violins scamper into a much stronger rhythm. The solid violin notes and escalating drumming beats offset the sombre atmosphere and tempt us out of despair. The violins play low, drums get faster and the crescendo slowly begins to build, as if lifting us to another level of contemplation. Then the violins rise to a joyful tune that leads into a full orchestral rhythm. The tambourine returns with heavy beats from drums and cymbals, and suddenly it feels as though you're back in the world of Moulin Rouge! It resembles a circus rhythm and the sound dips up and down, from the slow and dramatic, to high pitched energetic melodies. The use of stunning violin harmonies continues throughout the piece as these wonderful instruments guide us through a variety of feelings and emotions, from sadness and despair, to contemplative joy and enlightenment.
The final crescendo leads us into a big band style finale, with trumpets blaring and an operatic harmony that serves to reiterate the film's tag line one last time. At the end of the credits, the mottos appear in time with the final beats of the song -
It is the 'Love' image that lingers onscreen a little longer than the rest, clearly reinforcing which is the most prevalent of all the themes in the film. Bolero succeeds in leaving a lingering reminder of the most poignant message implied by the film - the message that above all, this story was about love, a love that will live forever.
I believe Bolero is a perfect choice for the end credits music of such an incredible movie. At a running time of 6 minutes, 53 seconds, it is the longest of all the Moulin Rouge songs featured on the soundtrack and was arranged especially for the movie. Baz Luhrmann says in one of the DVD commentaries that, through this song, he hopes that by the end of the credits the audience will be lifted out of despair into 'another place'. I have transcribed his explanation below, as Baz's words have been an obvious influence on my own observations regarding the song:
"This last piece of music is called 'Bolero' by Steve Sharples and the thing about it was that normally you do read quite a lot of music for the film. But I just felt that in a way it was such a great... he'd written it for another part of the film and it was such a great electro-circus piece. And the fact that it was a 'Bolero', it followed the same trajectory in a way of the film itself... But what I like about it is that you start with the tragedy and, you know, Satine is dead, and if you do sit through the credits, I mean it's not a pure tragedy and hopefully it does uplift you and leaves you with hope. And so that by the end of this, as it gets faster and faster and more and more uplifting, it kind of expels the death scene and leaves you with a sort of sense of - I wouldn't say hope leaving the cinema - but... it brings you to another place at the very end of the credits."
