The Harder They Fall

Move over, Tarantino—to some extent also following Concrete Cowboy (which also features Idris Elba), here is a hyper-violent take on the Western, furthering reimagining and pushing it beyond its decidedly white-washed roots. According to Netflix, it is “a righteously new school Western”—with an all-Black ensemble cast, who represent historical figures from the Old West.

Directed by James Samuel, he is also notably responsible for the remix of Barrington Levy’s 1984 dancehall track “Here I Come” that we hear at the trailer’s outset. It hits at about the thirty-second mark, the first drum beat sounding in sync with Elba’s character bursting through the doors of a saloon. In what is a common tactic for sound sync in action-oriented trailers, the first “bleeding” title card is paired with accented hits in the percussion and the sound of gunshots to match.

Just as Levy is a celebrated dancehall musician, the other track in this trailer is by Afrobeats luminary Fela Kuti. The funk track “Let’s Start” offers energy to spare, in sync with the decidedly stylish flow of cinematography on screen.

Of particular interest is how the trailer leaves in Kuti’s spoken intro (“our first tune is called...”). It may not be immediately apparent to the average audioviewer that Kuti’s voice was from the original soundtrack of the song—it fits rather neatly into what’s happening on screen. Such an off-screen voice, or what film scholar Michael Chion might call an acousmetre (a being heard and not seen), deftly merges and blends the soundtrack with the visuals in a way that is rarely experienced. One might say that it further suffuses the music’s meaning, especially for those familiar with it, with this new, visual narrative experience of the film. Notice how the trailer’s edits even follow Kuti’s voice, as if listening to it in knowing agreement—“let’s start what we have come into the room to do,” he says, with the actors’ guns giving the phrase fresh meaning.

The funky vibe of the track as coupled with gratuitous displays of blood and gun violence is what merited the comparison to Tarantino at the beginning of this post, but to end our understanding at that comparison would be a disservice. For one, consider the unique cinematographic angles and moves in this trailer—particularly, at 1:21 with the dolly zoom, or the camera tracking the perspective of the gun barrel at 1:39. Between these moves and the verve of moments like 1:45 with the gunshots synced perfectly to the brass’ sixteenth notes, Samuel carves out an identifiable editing and sync style.

What’s most interesting here, perhaps, is the fact that the director took a—well—direct, hands-on approach with the music, using his own remix. Presumably he also had at least some input into the cut of the trailer where it was used. Though the music synchronizes with the action, it doesn’t do so obsessively. Rather, it’s enough to be noticed and appreciated, while also giving gaps of silence and downtime to let the scenes breathe and some dialogue to come through.

The Harder They Fall arrives on Netflix and in select theaters soon, with no firm release date yet.

— Curtis Perry