6. It has an original and unique soundtrack and you won’t believe what you’re listening to
Rian Johnson’s cousin Nathan was responsible for the lion’s share of the score and he uses a range of instruments in different ways to achieve an effect that is central to the story. All this was put together with virtually no money whatsoever, put together on a Mac with a single microphone while Nathan was living in England, which is amazing when you consider the quality of the finished product.
Each character has a different sound which fits their role and personality. An instrument was actually constructed using wine glasses and beer bottles specifically to fit the character of Brendan so that it could be present in each scene but not dominate the overall soundtrack.
Music is used to heighten tension, portray character and action, from the chaotic cacophony accompanying the final battle in the Pin’s basement to the central piece, Emily’s theme, which hints at a deep melancholy at the heart of the film. Filing cabinets and radiators are just two examples of the other unorthodox percussion employed in the project.
The soundtrack conveys any number of emotions, invoking everything from Monsieur Hulot, as Brendan explores and discovers, to a rattlesnake as drama vamp Kara drops her pretensions and shows her true face. The composer has referred to what he created as a ‘junkyard orchestra’ which draws on inspiration from classics such as The Third Man and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
7. Joseph Gordon-Levitt arrives
It’s fair to consider this his breakout role. He had appeared in a few films prior to this including A River Runs Through It and The John Grisham thriller The Juror and had demonstrated versatility. He’d also become a familiar face on TV’s 3rd Rock from The Sun.
This however, was the first time he had led a film. He’s in pretty much every scene and dominates proceedings with his presence. His mannerisms and distinctive walk were modelled on Cowboy Bebop, an anime noir series from the late 90’s which was a favourite of the director’s and an influence on other areas of the film.
Throughout the film he conveys a deep sense of detachment mixed with the desire to put things right for motivations similar to his detective predecessor, Sam Spade: because it’s the necessary thing to do.
The performance gained him many positive reviews from critics and his career started to take off from there, with notable turns for directors like Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg as well as more work for Rian Johnson in his timebending follow-up effort, Looper.
8. It’s a High School movie with a difference
It’s nice to see a movie set around High School that eliminates, to a massive degree, the usual tropes. The notable absence amongst these is the adults.
The only one we see is Richard Roundtree, famous for his own distinctive detective work in Shaft, as the Assistant Vice Principal, looming over Brendan’s investigations as stated above like the proverbial District Attorney. The school is the exclusive province of the students, who wander around and behave as if there were no adults. The Pin, a local drug lord, is described as an “old guy, like 26” without the slightest hint of irony.
The students, for the most part, behave like they are the adults. This is incredibly apparent in the drama studio, where Kara seems to spend her entire time in her dressing room attended to by freshman “lackeys”, ruling the roost in a delicious fashion. All the High School staples are there: the jocks, the vamps, the loners, the bookworms but it’s like they’ve actually been put in charge and these are the results.
There is no ultimate redemption for anyone present, even after the curtain has fallen. No ugly duckling story, no renewed optimism at the conclusion; only the feeling that order has been restored in some small fashion making this a more realistic take on the well-worn tales that usually inhabit this kind of location.
9. The imaginary friend puzzle
If you want to dig into a little mystery around the central one, you can consider the question of if Brendan’s friend, Brain, actually exists or if he is a Tyler Durden-esque alter ego of Brendan’s. We never actually see him interact with anyone else other than Brendan, despite there being allusions to this through a few telephone conversations. Rian Johnson has never confirmed or denied this rumour but it’s fun to speculate.
Brain could be a reflection of an aspect of Brendan’s lack of connection with the world. Brendan knows a great deal, but has to have a lot of information about people’s relationships and movements relayed to him. Brain starts to make allusions about Laura being on their side but Brendan is extremely defensive about admitting it, almost as if he is fighting his own inner desire to trust her.
At the end Brendan tells Brain to go home and sleep. If Brain is only a facet of Brendan’s own psyche, maybe that is the only part that is able to switch off, the rest of him being stuck in a state of permanent alertness.
Or, alternatively, maybe Brain is a real flesh and blood person who happens to be Brendan’s only trustworthy link into the other goings on in the school. His character, if looked at this way, would draw interesting comparisons with Effie in The Maltese Falcon, as the detective’s innocent, optimistic sidekick.
10. It makes a great triple bill with other noir from 2005, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Sin City
2005 was a great year for reimagining of the film noir genre. Brick fills in part of this trilogy very nicely indeed. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a comedy that’s high on camp and is a fast paced riot set among the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, with a rejuvenated Robert Downey Jr. prior to his success as Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Val Kilmer having the time of his life as his gay detective mentor.
Sin City is a more stylised, visceral interpretation of the genre with an emphasis on blood-soaked comic book sensibilities about as hard-boiled as they come. Brick stands with these two as a more bleak, detached vision of the genre with the indie sensibilities of a film with a fraction of the budget of the others. Each of these films focus on different elements of the film noir genre and each one is a terrific success in doing so.
11. Clues to Episode VIII, perhaps?
Last but not least, the eleventh reason to rewatch this classic is that Rian Johnson is at the helm of the next instalment of the Star Wars saga. Johnson has been very successful in upscaling his projects over the years, most notably with his big budget sci-fi movie, Looper, while never abandoning his overall style.
In the same way that David Lynch inserted some of his original style into a massive production like Dune in 1984, such as the medical attendants to the grotesques Baron Harkonnen, it’s useful to have a look at Brick and see if there are any clues as to what we should expect. The camera styles, use of light and musical motifs is one thing we might see. Star Wars is a franchise that likes to assign musical identifiers to its players (The Imperial March) being an example.
Along with this, there is the dialogue style and general feel of the piece. John Boyega has said that Episode VIII is going to be substantially darker in tone than JJ Abrams’ The Force Awakens and maybe Johnson’s style of isolation and detachment will figure somewhere in the continuing story. In any case, given the mastery shown in Brick, Star Wars fans should rest assured that the next episode in the franchise is in good hands.
Author Bio: Richard Austin is a Primary School Deputy Headteacher who’s just finished his first novel and is saving up to get it edited. When he was a kid, he used to keep a little book of the films he went to see at the cinema, giving them ratings out of 5, which his family and friends find highly amusing to this day! He also has a website where he writes his random thoughts about science fiction.