THE WINDMILLS OF YOUR MIND
One of the composers who has always been able to trace my heart to that sentimental place and transport my soul to a romantic kind of ache is Oscar-Winner Michel Legrand.
Norman Jewison (The Cincinnacti Kid (1965), In the Heat of the Night (1967) a gritty racially-charged detective story set in the South starring Sidney Poitier beat out Bonnie and Clyde and The Graduate at the Oscars! Another of Jewison’s visually moody films set as nihilistic cautionary tale is Rollerball (1975), And Justice for All (1979), Moonstruck 1987.) directs The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) which is Michel Legrand’s first American soundtrack and includes The Windmills of Your Mind with lyrics by Marilyn and Alan Bergman, performed by Noel Harrison (son of Rex Harrison). It’s an example of the moody romantic melodies you’ll discover in any of Legrand’s soundtracks.
I couldn’t help post this little flavor of music to sample, as I’ve been singing it all morning to my Siamese cat Daisy, while dreaming of the way the 60s decade in film flickered like a pale yellow haze, dreamy, sexy, languid, just for “Kicks” and romantic in it’s more subtle sensuality.
After watching a five hour rough cut of the film, composer Michel Legrand took a six week vacation during which he wrote 90 minutes of music. The film was then reedited to the music, instead of the other way around. If this experiment had failed, Legrand would have written a second score in the traditional way free of charge.
Windmills is an exquisitely evocative melody with lyrics like poetry that shares an intimate partnership with the story, dancing alongside the stunning Faye Dunaway featuring her gazillion fashion changes (Theodora Van Runkle who designed the costumes for Dunaway’s Bonnie and Clyde 1967) and Steve McQueen with his restrained spirit in an arousing stylized cat & mouse heist caper. McQueen plays an independently wealthy bank robber and Dunaway is the insurance investigator on his tail, literally.
Hopefully you’ll vibe on this a bit of Legrand’s genius, and I dare you to listen just once and be able to get it out of your head the rest of the day! Like a circle in a spiral…