Civil War's Strange Music Choices Have A Very Specific Function You May Not Notice [SXSW 2024]

Alex Garland's new film "Civil War" recently premiered at SXSW in Austin, Texas and to say it's going to be one of the most talked-about movies of the year might be an understatement. It's a movie with an awful lot to say, presenting ideas in very unique ways, particularly for a war film. /Film's own Jacob Hall said in his review that the film "is less about the politics of right now, and more about the horror that accompanies a world beyond politics." To that end, Garland went to great lengths to not glorify the horrors of war, and that extended to the film's soundtrack.

Garland and the cast participated in a Q&A following the film's premiere at the festival, which I attended. "Contemporary music didn't work," the filmmaker said addressing the use of a needle drop from legendary hip-hop group De La Soul in the film. "It suddenly, like, shattered it. It created a bit of funny messaging that hurt the film." So, rather than lean on contemporary music, he did something a bit unconventional.

The director, whose previous work includes films like "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation," also said that the idea was to capture the "unexceptional" moments of war. But, as Garland also explained, the medium of film presents certain challenges when it comes to depicting war. Namely, it can look glorious, with the right combination of sound and images.

"There is an issue. If you're working in cinema – or any filmed medium, actually – but certainly cinema, and you're making a war story, cinema is inclined towards whatever it's presenting itself as, it's inclined to not being anti-war. It's for lots of reasons. Action does contain adrenaline, so if you accurately depict the action, it does contain adrenaline. If you add music to that, and you add a certain kind of imagery to that, essentially, it becomes seductive."

To help illustrate his point, Garland discussed "Apocalypse Now," one of the greatest war films of all time. "'Apocalypse Now' is an incredibly brilliant film, really masterful film, but I'm not sure you could call it anti-war because it's too seductive," Garland said. "From the beginning shots of napalm over palm trees dissolving to ceiling fans, it pulls you into a kind of dark romance."

So, how did he avoid creating that same sort of seductive romance? That's where De La Soul comes in. Without getting into spoilers, the needle drop comes at a very unexpected moment and juxtaposes some pretty intense horrors of war. For Garland, that provided exactly the right sentiment.

"We were going to all sorts of efforts – some of them subtle, some of them not subtle – to try and avoid that. To make this not seem like a good idea to have a civil war, but a bad idea. Music, interestingly, is a key part of that. If you swap out – I'm sure everyone knows the beginning of Apocalypse Now – and you swap out the end with a different kind of track, it will have a different kind of effect. That De La Soul track had a particular function, which was to be jarring and aggressive, and to speak somehow to the perverse pleasure in what was happening, but not actually be seductive. To actually be slightly repelling with the conjunction of [spoilers] with this music. Not being like 'F**k yeah!' But feeling tarnished somehow."

Garland added: "It's a funny kind of balancing act."

"Civil War" stars Kirsten Dunst ("Spider-Man," "The Power of the Dog"), Cailee Spaeny ("Bad Times at the El Royale," "Priscilla"), Wagner Moura ("Narcos," "Mr. & Mrs. Smith"), Stephen McKinley Henderson ("Dune," "Lady Bird"), and Nick Offerman ("Parks and Recreation," "Dumb Money").

"Civil War" is set to hit theaters on April 12, 2024