In 2006, imitable Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai (“In The Mood For Love“) did a unusual thing for someone as painstakingly meticulous and assure of what he wants: he cast Norah Jones as one of the leads of his the first English-language film, “My Blueberry Nights,” even though the Grammy awarding winning singer had never acted in her life.
“I watched [‘Mood‘] I thought that it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. So I thought, ‘Let’s have lunch, maybe he wants my music.’ And he says, ‘Do you want to be in a movie?’ ‘OK, you’re amazing.’ For some reason I just had a blind trust… I just kind of jumped in and thought we’ll figure it out later,” Jones said at the 2007 Cannes Film Fest where the film debuted of being unexpectedly picked to star in the film.
After he cast her in the film (which also stars Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz) he immediately barred her from contributing to the movie’s soundtrack so she would concentrate on her acting. “At the very beginning, we decided we wanted everybody to look at the film and perceive Norah as an actor. Our understanding was that I wouldn’t put any of her songs in the film, because when you look at the film, you go into the characters and I didn’t want to remind the audience. I think her performance is strong enough to be seen as an actress,” Kar-Wai said.
But this eventually changed. We spoke to “My Blueberry Nights” soundtrack producer Eli Wolf who with Wong Kar-Wai via email put together the soundtrack disc. Wolf told us that Norah Jones had a hand in picking some of the film’s music, something she also said earlier this year at Cannes. “Before we started filming, before I even knew a lot about the story, he took a lot of pictures on the road of locations he wanted to use, and he gave [the photos to me], and asked me to pick the music that matched [their] mood,” she said.
Due in January on Jones’ Bluenote label when the film also finally arrive in theaters, the ‘Blueberry’ soundtrack disc features a track specifically written for the film by Norah Jones titled, “The Story” (which opens the film) plus several score cuts by Americana moody blues guitarist Ry Cooder (“Paris, Texas,” “The Buena Vista Social Club“) and songs by Otis Redding, Ruth Brown and Mavis Staples. Not surprisingly, the film also features two cuts from Cat Power’s The Greatest, an album and singer that already seems intrinsically attached to the film due to all of Kar-Wai’s high praise.
“If Charles Bukowski and Jane Birkin had a child, it would be Cat Power,” says Wong Kar-wai on the set of Blueberry Nights, where he was known to play The Greatest on repeat. “She’s unpredictable and mysterious but always intoxicating,” he told Paper Magazine in June. This was mostly for the benefit of the cinematographer. “The best way for the camera to pick up the rhythm is music,” he told the Times earlier this year.
As the blog The Cliff Edge mentioned a while back, the film also features composer Gustavo Santaolalla, who won Oscars for “Brokeback Mountain” and “Babel,” displaying his expert picking and Cassandra Wilson rendering a cover of Neil Young’s plaintive “Harvest Moon.”
Wolf said for the soundtrack disc he looked to “The Garden State” soundtrack album as inspiration for a vehicle to stand out on its own.
“I was impressed with [Zach Braff’s ]work, music is so important to him. “The music is like another character [in his movies]- he made a mixtape that would fit his film,” Wolf said trying to achieve a similar feeling.
“I like soundtracks that can live and breathe on [their] own and at the same time can tell a story about the film in the same way.”
The film’s music also makes nods to Kar-Wai’s past work: the song “Yumeji’s Theme” was originally the thematic and mantra-like motif of “In The Mood For Love.” ‘Blueberry’ uses a more appropriate and dusty, harmonica version of the same track.
Geography also informed the musical choices Wolf said. When Jones’ character is a Memphis waitress – Otis Redding is played; Cat Power’s soulful Greatest songs also provides the grooves for scenes set in Memphis.
“Whether old or new souls, all the music reflects the geographical story where the road trip follows,” he said.
“My Blueberry Nights” soundtrack tracklist
01. “The Story” – Norah Jones
02. “Living Proof”- Cat Power
03. “Eli Nevada” – Ry Cooder
04. “Try a Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding
05. “Looking Back” – Ruth Brown
06. “Long Ride” – Ry Cooder
07. “Eyes on the Prize” – Mavis Staple (produced by Cooder)
08. “Yumeji’s Theme (Harmonica Version)” – Umebayshi Shigeru
09. “Skipping Stone” – Amos Lee
10. “Bus Ride” – Ry Cooder
11. “Harvest Moon” – Cassandra Wilson
12. “Devil’s Highway” – Hello Stranger (Ry Cooder produced; his sons’s band)
13. “Parajos” – Gustavo Santaolalla
14. “The Greatest” – Cat Power
Download: Ry Cooder – “Paris Texas”
Download: Ry Cooder – “Mixteca”
Download: Umebayshi Shigeru – “Yumeji’s Theme”
Download: Cat Power – “Willie”
“My Blueberry Nights” trailer