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Jennifer Lopez dancing in front of the "criminal" of Fiona Apple
Photo: STXfilms
Hustlers' the whole mission statement is right there in his early frames. "It's a story of control," says Janet Jackson, while the young stripper Destiny (Constance Wu) nervously questions in a dressing mirror, adjusts the straps of her bra and applies a wet pink lip gloss. "My control," continues Jackson. "Control what I say, control what I do. And this time, I'll manage as I wanted. "Jackson's success in 1986 continues to play as the camera follows Destiny from behind while she arrives on the strip-club scene for the first time, her face lighting up briefly while she's playing. she turns slowly around the pole to cheers and applause.
When Destiny comes out of the scene, red and happy, a drunk Wall Street brother beckons her to approach her table and her ephemeral confidence charm and Jackson's song stop simultaneously. "Hey, Lucy Liu," he shouts. "Come here, it's my boy Danny, can you show him some good time?" The camera shows a dead-eyed fate that quickly soaks an old man into a private room.
Screenwriter-director Lorene Scafaria said that Jackson's "Control" movie was so essential for the opening scene that she did not really know what she would have done if Jackson had refused the license of the song. "I said through the front door:" If we do not get that, I do not know what this movie is. "There is a control theme throughout the movie, and I did not want to forget anything, I wanted it to be very clear, "says Scafaria," when we have it, when we do not, even when we are empowered, that is not the case. does not mean we're in control, I wanted to start the movie on Destiny and follow her from locker rooms to the floor, and use that song as part of the storytelling not to put ourselves in her place, but for us as well ask questions while we are with her. "
According to the music supervisor, Jason Markey, the licenses for "Control" are in focus. When I spoke to him a few weeks before the premiere of the film, he told me that he was sweating, to be honest. Although Universal, owner of Jackson's masters, gave the film the right to use the song, they told Markey they failed to reach Jackson while she was on tour to get final approvals. "I said," There is no setback possible. This is in the movie. We can not get rid of it at this point, so we need to approve it, "said Markey. "I always have anxiety, but it was beyond anxiety. I've doubled the Xanax. "
It was not until Markey and his team sent footage of the opening scene to Jackson that she finally gave her blessing. "After seeing the clip, she loved it," he says with palpable relief. "It's like giving birth. I walked in circles all day, pacing, worry, bad dreams, and so on. Say we did a miracle, agree?
The rest of the Hustlers' The soundtrack – a combination of pop and hip-hop welterweight, Chopin and classic rock – was no less negotiable for Scafaria, who wrote music signals directly into the screenplay, even before to know that she would hold the position of director. She went so far as to write personal letters to some artists. The clues "gave the script the feeling of being a musical in my head," she says. "So we recorded specific songs, synchronized specific sequences and edited these songs … hoping we would get the rights."
Below we have selected ten songs from the soundtrack and asked Scafaria, Markey and editor Kayla Emter to tell us the stories – both stressful and delicate – of the selection and licensing of each one. d & # 39; them.
1. "Control" and "Miss You Much", Janet Jackson
After turning the entirety of Hustlers In 29 days, Scafaria went directly into the editing room with Emter, who had edited his previous movie. The meddler. Both were playing with soundtrack options, interrupting the movie and playing a variety of songs on the scenes, while cutting the film together. "We're joking about it a bit, but we'd be ready until 2:00 to 4:00 to edit, explore all the options. We'll plug in her computer, her phone, she'll go from one track to another in the room, we'll simply press Play to mute it and we'll see what emotion comes from the music, "says Emter. "Lorene left the editing room without stopping working, which I've always found very inspiring – she was coming back and saying," What if we used that music, or this ADR line? " really made my game a contributor. "
But most of the music was blocked, at least in the spirit of Scafaria, until 2016, when the script was written. "I always knew that I wanted to book the movie with Janet, "she says. While Jackson's "Control" opens the movie, "Miss You Much," softer, closes it, thus playing a bittersweet montage of Ramona and Destiny's friendship. "She captures a sound and is an icon – even bigger than Ramona's iconography," Scafaria adds. "I like the idea that it starts and ends with Janet."
2. "Criminal", Fiona Apple
Perhaps the most breathtaking musical signal of the whole movie is ten minutes later, when experienced female stripper Ramona, Jennifer Lopez, comes on stage and slowly declines for Fiona Apple's "Criminal". The choice of the song resembles a discrete feminist whistle: Lopez motorboats fund smiles and smiles to the measure of her drunken audience but take a deep pleasure with her breathtaking physical feats, on cheeky lyrics probably lost for the men for whom she plays.
Although Lopez initially wanted to dance on a cover of "Wicked Game" for the scene, Scafaria suggested "Criminal" instead, and Lopez loved that idea. "I like the tempo, I like what he says, I'm obsessed with the song and love Fiona Apple," Scafaria says. "The lyrics, the narration, the atmosphere, the power, the seduction is something that is superimposed. It's a lot more than it seems to be. I felt that Ramona was perfectly into the story and gave this character a really great showcase and entrance. It's also something emotional: it's the feeling I wanted to convey from Destiny's point of view. And I loved that this is a song that Ramona chooses for herself.
The trap: Apple had never previously allowed the song for a movie. So Scafaria sent him the sequence and crossed his fingers. "Jennifer has learned the whole routine of this modified version, and if Fiona does not give us rights, I'm not sure what we would have done," she says. Fortunately, Apple said yes. Markey thinks it's because she "loved the emancipation of women and is probably a fan of Jen's, which helps." But Scafria thinks it may be the dance itself.
3. Study, op. 25, n ° 7, in C-minor, written by Frédéric François Chopin, arranged by Matt Herskowitz
Hustlers Scafaria broadcasts several studies of Chopin throughout the film: when Ramona teaches pole dance at Destiny, when exalted women sit for a warm and luxurious Christmas at the pinnacle of their success, when Destiny rethinks on his ragged friendship with Ramona. Scafaria says that the studies were the first musical signals she had imagined in 2016.
"It started with Chopin's signals, these studies designed to teach very difficult arpeggios. I found a similarity between the difficulty, the flexibility and the dexterity of playing these pieces to the strippers on the pole, and what they are asked to do to dance, as well as the strength needed to walk in. the room, "she says." And they mark the love story between Destiny and Ramona. "
Obtaining rights on these specific pieces was, of course, a challenge. "They were all played by this pianist in Germany and we spent six months trying to find him, and we could not. It was impossible. I called musicians in Germany who have never heard of this guy. It was crazy, "says Markey.
"Then one of the women who worked with me found one of her random commercials, about one of her albums, and this led us to find her email address. We also sweat this one forever.
4. "Gimme More", Britney Spears
As Destiny learns the tricks of Ramona's job, the two men start making money, buying shoes and fur coats, and sewing stacks of dollar bills. At the start of editing, friends sit in a huge Escalade at a heavily lit car dealership. Ramona reaches for the radio and turns the dial. Britney's undeniable growl echoes speakers: "It's Britney, bitch." Ramona and Destiny start dancing uncontrollably in their seats. "We have a full pocket!", Laughs Ramona, listening to the music, much to the chagrin of the male vendors around.
"It was another text written in the script that felt so important for the period," says Scafaria. "I was so desperate to see this in the editing. I thought, "It must be Britney and this song. It's the peak 2007. "
Scafaria was encouraged to take a few shots without "Gimme More" just in case Spears refused, but she refused. "Jennifer and I were like," We can not! It must be Britney! We do not know what to do if it's not Britney! That's my whore song. I like Britney. She is one of those artists for whom I respect a lot. She has been spinned and she is on the other side. She is a mother, she has mouths to feed, and during this time she must be sexed, examined, built, demolished and perhaps not really cared for along the way. I feel so pampered for her. We were so lucky that Britney said yes. "
5. "Love in this club", Usher
The most emblematic meta-cameo in the history of cinema is perhaps one-third of Hustlers. This is the culmination of 2007, just before the financial crash, and everyone lives blindly of his life the best and most excessive. One evening, as the dancers get ready to go on stage, Lizzo runs, out of breath, into the locker room. "Usher fucking is here!" She cries. "Usher, bitch!" And Usher himself, resplendent in his own way in 2007, enters the club in slow motion while "Love in this club" sounds loudspeakers. "The whole scene was made in my dreams and, one way or another, fully realized," says Scafaria.
"I wrote" Love in This Club "in the script, and Usher suggested creating a different song – I think it was" Bad Girl. "And I was like," Ooh It must be "Love in This Club" I'm sorry! "She laughs" It's not that I'm not a fan of his catalog, I'm a fan of Usher for life. the sound of that scene and that moment when everything was at its height and where we had the impression that the sky was raining money and that we did not know what was happening around the corner. "
Scafaria says that it was easy to bring Usher for the choice of the song. "I think he realized once we were there how electrical the room was and how much it meant for everyone to dance on stage and behind the camera. The atmosphere in the room had to be flowing champagne and falling money. "
6. "Next," Scott Walker
The first night of Ramona and the Destiny scam unfolds in a glorious and syrupy montage of men fainting in private lounges. "What is your social security number?" They whisper to a series of smiling and slightly conscious Wall Streeters who do not know that their credit cards are being used by the minute. Everything is in the cover of Scott Walker in the song "Next", a strange counter-war song by Jacques Brel. It is perfectly out of sync with the rest of the soundtrack and conveys the appropriate amount of surreality and dark humor.
"Scott Walker is my idol," says Scafaria. "His voice is made of a material that is not on Earth." She says she made the scene for this song and, again, she could not imagine how it would work without it. "This song is so important for capturing the tone of the scene, which is so delicate. It's a very different thing from what we're looking at, but it always seems to tell the story. This is not a beautiful sequence, and for some, it's very uncomfortable. But I think the song lends itself to any interpretation of the scene. You can think, It's so strange and crappy, or you can think, It's beautiful. And I think there's something exciting about using a song that I do not think people have heard before in a sequence that I do not think many people have ever seen – unless that the sexes are reversed and that you read the news. "
Halfway through the film, and before Scafaria can claim the rights to the song, Walker is dead. "I really had a broken heart. I have never met him; I am just a fan of far. But I was also afraid of not getting the rights to this song because of the succession at that time. I had the impression of being able to write him a personal letter and, hopefully, to sift through, as this song was essential to this editing. Fortunately, the song has been erased and the footage is one of the strangest and most memorable of the movie.
7. "Birthday cake", Rihanna
This is the height of the strippers scam. Ramona is dressed in a huge fur coat and slows down in the club, surrounded by her friends just as radiant. The money is raining rafters. "We brought $ 100,000 into the club," Ramona boasts in voiceover. In the background, Rihanna exalts the virtues of the cake.
"Rihanna was the last approval we had and I wrote him a letter," says Scafaria. "I wrote about what she thought for me, what she was for all women over the years – being a self-proclaimed woman and Forbes lists. "For Scafaria, Rihanna was sort of a soul mate of the Hustlers characters. "I loved telling stories about all those women who came from their home country and who worked a lot with the hand that was given to them. We have all received a certain hand of cards, and I really admire everything Rihanna has done on her own. She does everything with what seems to be kindness and grace, but also with an incredible amount of power and strength. "
Apparently, Rihanna saw similar parallels and agreed to license the song. "Hearing her voice in this scene when the women were up to their power, it seemed very important to me," said Scafaria.
8. "Dance (A $$)", Big Sean
Immediately after the "birthday cake" scene, we are transported to Ramona's new luxury apartment, where a group of beefy movers are trying to lug his tanning bed up a staircase and through the doorway. While they struggle and sweat, Big Sean sings softly: "Ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass, ass.
"This transition was so great," scoffed Scafaria. "I knew I wanted to go from song to song, like a DJ in a club. These songs went together so perfectly. I like to go from women who enter the club to Rihanna's voice, to men who move the tanning bed with that masculine voice. It ended up perfectly with the way they struggled with the tanning bed – it went with the lyrics. And then, seeing Jennifer and Constance in their Juicy tracksuit, living the high life at that time, was really fun. "
9. "The night is moving", Bob Seger
Towards the end of Hustlerswhen shit is unleashed in every sense of the word, Dawn (Madeline Brewer) sells her rogue comrades to the cops and takes part in a chaotic and nervous assassination operation. The end result is unexpected, but absolutely perfect: "Night Moves" by Bob Seger.
"I have to pay tribute to Kayla, who channeled this song – it was not written in the script," says Scafaria. "She had the score of 'Night Moves' on the wall as part of our editing room. At the end of a particularly difficult day, we always did it to feel better. When we got to that part of the story where the cops took over the narrative in one way, I said, "I have the impression that the cops have need their own soundtrack, their own sound. " We are outside the club, so they need a song that really tells their story. "
At first, Seger was not exactly on board. "He was very on the fence with the movie," says Markey. "I think drugs were one of the possible reasons. Many artists do not like being associated with drugs. But I said, 'Listen, nobody was hurt. There is no harm here. 'It's not an ideal situation for anyone to be hatched or drugged, but no one was hurt, no one died.'
Finally, Seger came. "He saw the clip and ended up really liking it. So I think everything worked out in the end, "says Markey. When I point out to him that it's a little ironic to think that a rock star of the 1960s did not want to be associated with drugs, he laughs. "No shit, no? This guy probably did more damage than anyone.
10. "Royals", Lorde
Ramona, dressed in a Juicy black suit with a crown decal, heads to the ATM to withdraw money, her heels pounding the sidewalk at the rhythm of Lorde's voice. Suddenly she is surrounded by cops. Lorde crosses her hands above her head: "We will never be royal, it does not run in our blood," subtly highlighting the film's arguments about control, class and capitalism. One by one, each woman is gathered and arrested. The door of their communal prison cell closes just as Lorde sings, "And I'm in love with being queen."
Scafaria had his heart turned to "Royals" and filmed Lopez walking specifically towards the song. But it was perhaps the longest shot of the soundtrack. "This song has never been allowed for a movie," says Markey. "Lorde is just fine – she does not care about things." She is very passive about it. She is very precious and she usually says no.
So, Markey, who says most of his job is "begging," gets to work. "I called my friend Jonathan Daniel, who is his manager, and begged him to let us have this song. We think it's so hard to cook. And we sent him an excerpt from the movie. Scafaria also wrote a letter to Lorde, explaining what the song meant for her and for the scene. In the end, Lorde agrees to give her first song to a movie.
I asked Markey what he thought Lorde particularly liked about the scene. "I'm not sure," he says. "Women [artists] I just got up and realize that it's such an important movie, and give us approvals based on that. "
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