The Use Of Music In Epic Films

Abstract

The films that take their topics from the ancient era are called Epic Films. The fact that these films are also called “Sword and Sandal Films” gives a clue about the characteristics of the period they depict. The definition includes the ‘sword’ representing war and masculine elements and the ‘sandal’ representing feminine phenomena such as love and beauty. They were being produced since the first period of cinema, starting in Italy, later in Hollywood. The golden age of the Epics is 1950s, an era in best films of the genre such as “10 Commandements”  “Ben Hur”, “Spartakus” and “Kleopatra” were made. They ove their success to the music they containt,  without any doubt. In our essay, first we depict the function of the music in the ancient era. The second chapter captures the period between the introduction of music until the Golden Age of the Genre. 1950s and 1960s were the peakest period of Epics where most of them were being produced in Italy. Therefore, Italian composers were the ones made audience admire these productions.  The last two chapter of our work are related to the reason why classical music is the dominant genre in Epics and the use of New age in these films.