Movie Music for Motivation

Movie music is one of the easiest things to miss. Often when it's good, you don't even realise it and that's how the composer knows they did a good job. They kept you on task (watching the movie, that is). But movie music deserves it's day in the sun too.

So for motivation to make it through to actual spring, listen below:

Never Give Up from Lion

This was exactly what I needed as I sat through my second viewing of Lion, sobbing after seeing actual footage of Saroo Brierley being united with his birth mother. It'll get you right in the feels and make you determined to do anything.

Wayward Sister from Nocturnal Animals

A bit of Hitchcock and timeless string orchestra set against roiling glissandos evoke something classic but with the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. A calm you can't quite trust, but you so want to.

Heptatod B from Arrival

In a film about science fiction and language, the Icelandic Johann Johannsson made an incredibly intelligent score that grabs you from the first. Plus, it's just plain soothing.

I'm Still Standing from Sing

People are consistently surprised that this isn't the original by Sir Elton John. It's an animated gorilla in a leather jacket voiced by the singing addict Taron Egerton. Bonus for this soundtrack is the golden Hallelujah performed by Tori Kelly and Jennifer Hudson

Children from Jackie

Okay, this one might not be quite motivational but it's a damn good score. The Oscar nomination we all know should have won. 

Drive It Like You Stole It from Sing Street

This much under-appreciated Irish film brought us a full soundtrack of goodies, but this one will hook you. Little bit of 50s, little bit of 80s, and streaming on Netflix. Go, now.

Evermore from Beauty and the Beast

Alan Menken created brand new Disney candy for us, sung like melted chocolate by Dan Stevens. It's one part cliche, one part classic and Disney through and through. 

Visit our Pachyderm Reviews GoFundMe page to donate to the Elephants and Bees project by Save the Elephants. To read details on the project and learn why Pachyderm Reviews is supporting them, visit our Get Involved page

Lion

Lion, 2016

Directed by Garth Davis

Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara, Sunny Pawar, Abhishek Bharate

Based on the true story of Saroo Brierley, Dev Patel leads this gentle ode to family. Five-year-old Saroo (Pawar) was found wandering the streets of Calcutta, having ridden the train 1,500 kilometers from home and screaming for his big brother Guddu (a compassionate Bharate). With nothing more than a first name, a mom named mom and the five-year-old mispronunciation of his hometown, Saroo was sent to an orphanage.

He was adopted by Sue and John Brierley (real life adopted mother Kidman and David Wenham) of Tasmania, Australia and joined by his adopted brother Mantosh (Divian Ladwa). He learned English, forgot Hindi and became Australian.

Saroo studied hotel management in Canberra and it was with some friends there, with a bite of food that sends him back to his last day with his brother, that he tells them all the truth of his complicated history. A friend suggests trying to use Google Earth to trace back the trains he rode and the streets he walked. Girlfriend Lucy (Mara) encourages him to try but out of love for the family he has now, he can’t bring himself to try.

It takes years to sink into obsession but Saroo eventually quits his job and spends all his time with a map, laptop and push pins, working through the image of his birth mother’s smile and the sound of his brother’s screams.

What Davis has done in his portrayal of this extraordinary story is walk you through it as Saroo did, with the heart-melting Sunny Pawar leading us across the butterflied quarry his mother worked in, the fragrant markets his brother piggy-backed him through, the three-dimensional hunger of homelessness in Calcutta. Patel picks up where Pawar’s wide, accepting eyes left off, with such devotion to his adopted parents that he cannot bring himself to tell them how much the mystery of his past is breaking him.

The cinematography is marked by sweeping Indian landscapes and bright colors, a blend of the fairy-tale like memories of five-year-old Saroo and aerial shots that adult Saroo desperately followed across the computer screen.

The connection between these two actors is magnetic, despite never being on screen together, as is the angelic portrayal of their brother Guddu. Set to a powerful score, it’s a movie that will land you in a puddle of tears. Happy, heart-breaking tears.

And after seeing the actual footage of Saroo’s search you’ll call home to tell your mom you love her.

Visit our Pachyderm Reviews GoFundMe page to donate to the Elephants and Bees project by Save the Elephants. To read details on the project and learn why Pachyderm Reviews is supporting them, visit our Get Involved page