UNDERLINED.’S EDIT. VOL. 14
Long time no see in this section of underlined. I decided to make some changes. Up until now, the edits consisted only of things related to music. Over time, I realized that approach is no longer sustainable for this section. That’s why I haven’t been writing and posting as often. I really neglected this part of underlined, which I don’t want to happen. So, I’ll start sharing some other interests besides music. I’ll still try to add bits and bobs of music, but it won’t be the main focus of upcoming edits anymore. The one part I’m leaving untouched is Song I Couldn’t Stop Listening To.
Dunkirk Score
One of the first times I really noticed music on screen was in Christopher Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk. The score was done by his frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer, and the soundscape is peculiar—it’s there, but it’s not there. What I mean is that it blends so well with the picture, but not in a way that it’s just background music. Zimmer’s score has its own role: to create even more anxiety. “The thing that I'm proudest about Dunkirk is you can't separate it from the film. Chris and I have now been working together for 16 years and it's always been our ambition, somehow, that the score and the images become one total experience,” said Zimmer in an interview with GQ in 2018.
Dunkirk is a unique World War II film because it shows war without the bloodshed you might expect. There is not a single drop of blood showed in this film which is quite different approach. Nolan keeps you on the edge throughout the whole film, and the music amplifies that feeling. In a Vox video, it’s explained how Zimmer’s department achieves this. He uses the Shepard tone, which creates the illusion of a melody endlessly rising. This produces the constant feeling of being on edge, waiting for something to happen, and expecting an eventual resolution—except there isn’t one.
Teatro Della Cometa
During my recent trip to Rome, I visited Teatro della Cometa and unexpectedly had the most wonderful tour of the theatre. It’s located near the Colosseum and Roman Forum on Via del Teatro di Marcello. I first got to know about it thanks to Maria Grazia Chiuri, the Italian fashion designer. Back during the first lockdown, I started getting familiar with her work and immersed myself in her world. While serving as creative director at the French house Dior, Chiuri began this project.
The theatre was originally founded by Pecci Blunt in 1958. The reason she opened it was simple: her living room became too small for the plays she created for friends and family. To solve that problem, she decided to build a theatre right across from her home in Rome, with an entrance through the garden in the middle. The Pecci Blunt family hired architect Tomaso Buzzi, and what makes his design special are the windows on the stage. Normally, a stage is pitch black, but Buzzi placed six windows to bring Rome directly into the theatre.
Unfortunately, a fire destroyed it just 10 years after opening. Fast forward to 2020, when restoration and recovery took place. A detail I loved is that the wood left behind after the fire was used to build today’s stage. After decades, Rome finally got Teatro della Cometa back in the city centre.
Fashion Neurosis podcast
Fashion Neurosis is one of my favourite podcasts—or really, one of my favourite pieces of media ever. Fashion designer Bella Freud started it last year, and it quickly became recognisable. What makes it different from other podcasts is that her guests lie down on a white sofa, so there’s no eye contact at all. She calmly starts every interview with the same question: “Can I ask you what you’re wearing and why you chose these particular clothes?” I think that’s brilliant. Consciously or subconsciously, we all send messages with our clothes. Some people care less—or not at all—whereas others spend half an hour in front of the mirror and wardrobe choosing what to wear every day. The bottom line is that in either case you do send a message about your interest in dressing.
As the name suggests, Freud asks questions that make every guest ponder their relationship to fabric, how it traces back to childhood, how it has shaped their identity and sense of belonging. Speaking of those, the episode with fashion designer Jonathan Anderson, now Dior’s creative director, is especially worth listening to.
Journalism’s mental toll
As a journalist, I often ask myself the same question my brave colleague did at the beginning of that video. The way she put all my thoughts into just two sentences left me in so much mental pain: “You know what I hate the most in this world? That I report stories of death more than stories of life.”
It’s hard to describe how soul-draining it is to sit in a newsroom for eight hours a day, five days a week, reporting on suffering around the world. It takes a toll on both your physical and mental health. I wish more journalists would start talking about that side of the job. One of the hardest parts is that it never truly stops, because journalism isn’t just a job - it’s a lifestyle. The news never stops, which means your brain never stops working, even when you’re not sitting in front of the laptop.
So next time you say you can’t read the news because it’s overwhelming, remember: someone wrote that. And they do it every single day, for multiple hours.
For end
Reminder from streets of Rome.
Song I Couldn’t Stopped Listening
Since Sabrina Carpenter announced her latest record Man’s Best Friend in June, online discussion hasn’t stopped. Does she cross the line? Does she harm feminism? Does she lean too hard on sex appeal? Does she dehumanise women? If you look at the history of music, you’ll see plenty of women exploring and expressing their sexuality - just listen to Carly Simon’s “Waited So Long” from 1972, long before Carpenter was even born.
Anyway, I love how “Tears” sounds so rich and playful in texture. Her songwriting is, as always, witty and funny - something that has become an inseparable part of her personal branding. And that short dance break, plus the way she announces it in a whispering voice, is my favourite moment on the whole album. Spectacular give me 14 of those right now!!!
