Spencer

The film Spencer is directed by Pablo Larraín and with an original score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (who is no stranger to film scores at this point), although this teaser trailer’s music was likely handled by others. The teaser for Spencer—and of course, the film itself—recounts Princess Diana’s latter days, arriving right around the anniversary of her passing on August 31st 1997.

Some will immediately recognize the sound of Belgian children’s choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers from the trailer to _The Social Network _(2010). Most everyone should be able to identify the music as a choral arrangement with piano accompaniment of Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”, from his 1972 album Transformer. There are multiple intertextual elements to consider here as to why this song in particular was chosen for the trailer. Though on the face of it, Reed sings of unhurried, even blissful circumstances, the chord changes and delivery are far more sombre. Perhaps adding to this mood shift is Reed’s known historical troubles with heroin addiction, which has led to a popular interpretation of the song to have a drug-related subtext. That being said, Reed did personally insist otherwise.

More to the point, the song has received more attention in term of synch licensing, appearing in multiple TV series in the past couple of years, such as Brave New World and See; in addition, it also received the choral treatment on Saturday Night Live in April 2020 as a tribute to Hal Willner, a veteran music producer of the show who passed away due to COVID—19. And it’s central to the trailer for the 2013 horror film You’re Next.

A final layer of context worth taking note of is that Perfect Day received considerable attention in the United Kingdom around 1997 when it was released as a BBC charity single, a few months after Diana’s untimely passing. This teaser was released on the anniversary of her death—in some way an act of irony, considering that August 31st 1997 was most certainly not the perfect day.

The choice in music is also well considered when taking into account the cross section of audioviewers who might be interested in a film about Princess Diana’s later days. It’s probably a good selection also for those who might be just as familiar—and moved—by the children’s choral arrangement of Perfect Day. It’s as much a matter of nostalgia as it is sound-to-image counterpoint writ large, with the lyrical insistence of a perfect day and the visuals of splendour and royalty fronting a more troubled inner life.

Though short—as teasers are—there are at least a few moments worth homing in on. Notice from 0:12-0:14 the synch of displaying luggage tags to the beat. The off-screen door knock against a black screen provides a segue to Diana’s—i.e., Kristen Stewart’s—first on-screen appearance as the piano rests tentatively.

The most notable addition to the arrangement by far, however, is the appearance of a discordant strain in the addition of what sounds like cymbals towards 0:47, as Diana audibly pulls the curtains taut. Finally, notice at 0:51 as this discordant strain continues to swell and overtake the track that the final bar of music repeats mechanically, as though it were stuck, on that penultimate chord—refusing to resolve.

Instead of a chord, it ends on a huge percussive note and a visual blackout, leading to her first and only spoken line, adding to its weight and impact—her assertion that “they don’t”, in response to Sadie Hawkins’ character’s statement “They know everything.” Here they presumably means the media and the public, and that regarding her personal life. The piano does resolve the carry on at the final title card, giving some reprieve to the tension as well as overall musical continuity while fading out rather than ending the song.

Overall, this teaser trailer shows how the impact of a recontextualized cover version is not to be underestimated. As already mentioned, this trailer reminds one of the choral version of Radiohead’s Creep used in service of the trailer for The Social Network, in 2010.

Eleven years on, the same approach, given the right context, can be just as impactful.

Spencer arrives in theatres November 5th.

— Curtis Perry