Leonardo DiCaprio's 'Revolutionary Road' memorable soundtrack

Revolutionary Road features Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in the lead roles and marks their second collaboration with the film. Helmed by Sam Mendes, the 2008 British romantic drama movie is an adaptation of Richard Yates’ 1961’s novel of the same name. It revolves around Frank and April Wheeler, who always see themselves as far-removed from the conventionality of suburbia. After the couple buys a house on Revolutionary Road, Connecticut, their life takes a turn. While Frank slogs for over 10 hours a day in a job he hates, April craves for fulfilment and passion. So, the duo rebels against the chaos of their monotonous routine and plan an escape, leading to the story ahead.

Revolutionary Road was well-received by the critics and the audience alike. The movie earned various awards and nominations for the performances of Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Michael Shannon. The soundtrack also received highly positive reviews. So, we have mentioned everything that you need to know about Revolutionary Road’s soundtrack.

Revolutionary Road’s soundtrack

Revolutionary Road’s music was composed and conducted by Thomas Newman and Orchestrations by J. A. C. Redford. Newman makes the use of his trademark haunting and minimalistic accented soundtracks. With an array of unique instruments including far whistles, dark matter, and ambient freezes, the composer uses brass-less and woodwind-less orchestra. Thomas Newman is known for employing off-filter rhythms and textures, which made Leonardo DiCaprio’s Revolutionary Road’s soundtrack quite popular. He enhanced the music with conventional orchestral sweet, making it soothing and pleasant to listen.

The opening song Route 12 is the perfect example of Thomas Newman’s mix in styles, featuring tinkling, metallic sounds, paving a way to the theme of string and piano. The similarity is quite evident in iconic movies like The Shawshank Redemption or The Horse Whisperer. Talking about tracks including Picture Window and Unrealistic, their music has various dreamy and unconventional aspects. For instance, the composer makes the perfect use of feathery, fluttery flutes, while the theme goes well with the situation featuring Frank and April’s public image to be fragile.

Also read: When Leonardo DiCaprio's Co-star Julia Butters Shared Her Experience Of Working With Him

Also read: When Leonardo Dicaprio's 'OUATIH' Co-star Julia Butters Carried A Sandwich To The Oscars

On the other hand, spiky pianos in The Bright Young Man form distinct music. It also gives way to muted accordions in Golden People. In Night Woods, darker material blended with clattering metallic percussion and piano chords appear in the song. Meanwhile, the nine-minute track, April, has a hypnotic music spell of subtle textures and dreamy drones, before moving ahead to the Revolutionary Road’s end title, which is an emotionally-heightened track and reprises the theme with a calm and ear-worming sweep.

Thomas Newman’s fans loved Revolutionary Road’s music. It features musical soloists George Doering, Rick Cox, Steve Tavaglione, Michael Fisher, besides Newman. Tommy Vicari recorded and mixed the music, and Bill Bernstein edited it.
 
Also read: Leonardo DiCaprio Might Appear In 'Bountry Law' Episodes, Suggests Quentin Tarantino

Also read: Leonardo DiCaprio Reveals Quentin Tarantino Wanted "no Phones" On Sets Of OUATIH