I watched Valley Girl (1983) this month and has a wonderful 80s soundtrack. There are a couple of other music moments I could have selected from the same film, but my favorite is early in the story at a party. Love My Way by The Psychedelic Furs happens to be on the stereo and adds to the heightened emotion of the moment. I guess it’s many girls dream to be swept off their feet in such a way.
Coincidentally, I found a short bonus clip from the 2018 Sundance film Festival in which Nicolas Cage is interviewed by Kevin Smith and talks about his memories of the film.
If you follow the latest Oscar nominated releases, you may know Call You By Your Name (2017) (which I saw recently) memorably uses the same Psychedelic Furs song (in two different scenes no less). Once at a party, and another time when out at night in the streets. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Valley Girl was an inspiration, as in both films there is a heartfelt scene in which a father passes on wisdom to a teenager.
What do you think? As always, comments are welcome
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Interested as always to see what your next pick will be. Not sure if it’s just me but should there be music in that clip as just seems to be dialogue?
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@Alyson: I see your point, even though I disagree. In other films, I sometimes find it jarring when a loud score drowns out dialogue. I didn’t think that was the case here, in fact it’s the opposite, the music adds to the atmosphere. The two of them are standing in a bathroom and realistic a song is playing at the party, you wouldn’t expect silence with a group of teenagers in the next room. Worth a watch if you like 80s coming of age stuff. Of course, not every film is for everyone.
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Oops sorry – Had the volume on the computer turned down quite low so didn’t actually hear it at all. Now that I’ve turned it up I get your point – Adds to the atmosphere and sets the scene. Of course my favourite Psychedelic Furs song is Pretty in Pink because of that 80s teen movie – I’m a great fan of John Hughes work and although I was in my mid 20s when most of his best films came out, I adored them. The nostalgia thing again when you are reminded of those awkward teenage years.
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@Alyson: Valley Girl has that special 80s John Hughes-ness, so I think you’d probably like it. Was directed by a woman and I think it shows, particularly in the interactions between the female characters
I agree Pretty in Pink is one of Hughes’ best and it really isn’t as “girly” as the title would suggest 🙂
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Never seen this but was shocked at how young Nic Cage looks… must have been one of his earliest roles.
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@Rol: I believe was his first leading role under the name Cage. Before that he was known as Nicolas Coppola (yes THAT famous Hollywood family)
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There’s something about 80s films and their music choices that resonate so well. Perhaps it’s because I grew up after the era so these songs are still quite fresh or the fact I’ve since grown to love 80s indie, punk, and rock that when they appear in these films they stand out. But I also think so many of these films used pop music so well; perhaps it’s indicative of how it captured the zeitgeist of the era which I suppose you could attribute to any decade, particularly post-1960s.
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@Dan: In that scene In Valley Girl, there’s a sense of daring and being young. Cage’s unusual way of asking her out fits so well with the lyric ”love my way”. He is doing it “his way”, no matter what. Without the music, the scene would be less impactful. I’ll no doubt be sharing other 80s music moments for this series, A great decade for film and music! I agree many of the films from that era used pop music really well.
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