Cinematic Storytelling:

Silent Running (1986)

The pop culture detective revisits his past.

I firmly believe that it’s a bad idea to revisit the movie or TV show you thought was great when you were nine or ten.

You are bound to be disappointed.

Time will change your perception of great things at the age.

But this song appeared on YouTube when I was writing a new post, and I thought, why not? Let’s see if it’s still as haunting as I remember it.

I’m engaging in a bit of deception here.

I’m not writing about the 1972 movie Silent Running, but rather the song by Mike + The Mechanics, which was released in 1986, the same year as a film titled Choke Canyon. (It was released as On Dangerous Ground on other markets.) The song Silent Running became part of the soundtrack to the film Choke Canyon, and looking back, the song has stood the test of time in a way the film has not.

The song in a number of ways mimics what the pop culture detectives is about:

• Explores the creative act through source materials and homages.

• It takes separate elements and creates something greater than the sum of its parts. Synergy.

What I mean by this is that Mike Rutherford, one of the co-writers of the song and a member of Mike + The Mechanics and of Genesis, had this to say about titling the song after the 1972 film starring Bruce Dern:

"…because I remembered that film so well, and our song had a spacey feel to it."

Silent Running. 1972. Starring Bruce Dern. Great movie I might cover in a future post. Not the subject of THIS post, but influential to the point of this post. Artistic influence doesn’t always run in a straight line, and that is ok.

And that is the hook that compelled me to write this post to share with you after writing this note a couple of months back.

@mindset&mythos

is an exploration of the creative process and a celebration of stellar storytelling, and this song does both exceedingly well.

While I’m still working on developing an academic definition of what cinematic storytelling means, one aspect of this criteria is how a few elements—sound, editing, performance—come together to create an aggregate effect that is greater than any one element by itself. (The average film relies on star power, impressive special effects, a superstar director, or an ideology that encourages and rewards mediocrity, at the expense of the other elements.)

And working from this criteria, the song Silent Running is far more cinematic than the forgotten film it supports as part of its soundtrack, and it packs more storytelling, mythology, and aural power in 5 minutes than the movie does in it’s 94-minute runtime. There is an extended 11-minute version of the song, but I’ve never listened to it.)

A simple visual that perfectly captures a tiny amount of the textures generated by this magnificent song. The feeling of alternate timelines briefly converging from a sense of urgency and love.

I remember.

The pop culture detective revisits his past.

I remember this song growing up.

It wasn't played often, so that automatically made it more desirable.

The initial sell for me was that it was a band made by one of the members of Genesis.

It wasn't Phil Collins, but once I'd listened to the song I was hooked.

This song PULLS feelings from you.

I couldn't articulate as a kid the combination of anxiety and hope this song instilled in me as a kid.

Such a combo of foreboding. A being from the future with a message of an approaching threat, yet telling you not to be afraid.

Revisiting this recently I find that it's just as powerful and evocative as when I first heard it as a child.

Maybe even more relevant because the threat is getting closer?

Even if Phil Collins did not have any part in crafting this song.

Listen and tell me what you think.

This song hits deep in unexpected places. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

The pop culture detective revisits his past.

And finds gold.

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I appreciate your visit. While you’re why don’t you visit my Ko-Fi and buy a copy of my graphic novel. It’s the end result of experimenting with cinematic storytelling and consistently creating, even when I didn’t feel like it.

https://ko-fi.com/jaycorso/shop

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