After hearing his wife listening to a selection of different piano pieces in preparation for a class, Dara realised he wanted to talk about motifs. He discusses motifs in the work of film score composers before warming to the idea of motifs in one’s life – what themes and fascinations have recurred over a lifetime? What has been circled back to? What has been underscored and reiterated?
A friend points out to Dara ideas and inclinations he has been talking about for 20 years and it provokes a reflection on the attraction of those things in the first place. Dara opens up about his personal code and what nudged him in that direction as he emerged from adolescence.
Expanding the discussion to include leitmotifs, famous theme music and notable characters from the movies are looked at. They prompt the question – what would your leitmotif be?
Also included this week: the head-banging composer from Sesame Street, wands and knobs and other phallic innuendo, and thoughts on Paulo Sorrentino’s 2013 film, La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty).