Two Little Boys
This Essay is going to discuss the Soundtrack of the New Zealand film Two Little Boys (Sarkies, 2012) and how it relates to the popular culture theory of globalisation and localisation. The essay will focus on three key concepts and these are construction of reality, time, place and the world of the film. A brief history of each piece of music on the film’s soundtrack will be given, and examples used as to how the music reinforces ideas of time, place, reality and identity within the film.
The first piece of music to appear in Two Little Boys is a piece that was written by Alex Lithgow in 1901 and was re-arranged in 1909 for the New Zealand National Brass Band contest which was held in Invercargill. The brass band culture in Southland during this period was extremely prominent. For example: before the 1900s, there were about 45 separate bands in Southland. Throughout the years however the numbers dwindled, and in 2013 there are only two bands. The use of this piece of music in Two Little Boys creates a sense of place right at the beginning of the film as it is named after the City of Invercargill, and was written by an iconic local composer (Firth & Glover, 1986, para. 3). The camera angle used at the beginning of the film shows the Wachner place roundabout, and Invercargill’s main street coming into focus. This camera angle and the use of the “Invercargill March” create a sense of place and a world for the film.
The second piece of music to appear in the film is a piece written by an American named Theodore Morse in 1902 entitled “Two Little Boys”. The film uses the version recorded by Australian singer Rolf Harris in 1969. The song is used when Nige and Deno are walking to find the person that Nige had hit in his car. The film cuts to a flashback of the two characters as younger children growing up together and always being there for each other. The lyrics in the song reflect this in its third verse: Did you think I would leave you crying When
The first piece of music to appear in Two Little Boys is a piece that was written by Alex Lithgow in 1901 and was re-arranged in 1909 for the New Zealand National Brass Band contest which was held in Invercargill. The brass band culture in Southland during this period was extremely prominent. For example: before the 1900s, there were about 45 separate bands in Southland. Throughout the years however the numbers dwindled, and in 2013 there are only two bands. The use of this piece of music in Two Little Boys creates a sense of place right at the beginning of the film as it is named after the City of Invercargill, and was written by an iconic local composer (Firth & Glover, 1986, para. 3). The camera angle used at the beginning of the film shows the Wachner place roundabout, and Invercargill’s main street coming into focus. This camera angle and the use of the “Invercargill March” create a sense of place and a world for the film.
The second piece of music to appear in the film is a piece written by an American named Theodore Morse in 1902 entitled “Two Little Boys”. The film uses the version recorded by Australian singer Rolf Harris in 1969. The song is used when Nige and Deno are walking to find the person that Nige had hit in his car. The film cuts to a flashback of the two characters as younger children growing up together and always being there for each other. The lyrics in the song reflect this in its third verse: Did you think I would leave you crying When