Heart, Songs and Screen
Robert Harding
Through a close reading of three Musician Musicals; Grace of My Heart, Crazy Heart and Once, I will examine the use of songs in how they effect narrative, theme, tone and character. I’ve selected these three films to illustrate the breadth of the uses of songs; Grace of My Heart with its meticulous character development interwoven with the progression of the protagonist as a song-writer. Crazy Heart with it’s central song ‘The Weary Kind’ being a force of change in the protagonists life and Once, who’s central characters communicate and connect with songs.