A Walk to Remember

            A Walk to Remember quickly became one of my favorite movies due to its tragic love story.  However, while a movie can have an incredible plot, the music is what enhances the viewer’s emotions and envelops you.  A Walk to Remember is well known for its song “Only Hope.” It is sung during a musical that the main characters both perform in.  It is during this moment that Landon (main male role) realizes he loves Jamie (main female role). The song is about a woman explaining to the one she loves that he has changed her life.

This song is a crucial part to the movie because it explains the movie’s plot.  Jamie was a nerdy girl who always kept to herself.  Landon was the bad boy, who after getting into trouble, was forced to befriend Jamie.  This song is the summary of how Landon ends up changing Jamie’s life for the better before she passes away from cancer. Jamie also helps change Landon’s life by showing him the beauty of love. They were each other’s only hope. Clint Mansell states that he wanted the music to give off that basic feeling of what it is to be human. “Only Hope” does this by conneting the viewer to an emotion that everyone feels; love. The song advances the meaning of love in the movie.

It is after the performance that the plot begins to shift. At the beginning of the movie the viewer automatically does not like Landon. This song helps shift this opinion because the audience begins to see that he falling for Jamie.  It is not only the lyrics that help enhance this scene.  Gabriel Yared explains that, “When I write music for a film. I try to connect with its spirit rather than working shot, by shot.” The slow romantic rhythm to the song gives the viewer the idea that the song is about love.  So, although the song is supposed to be related to the musical that characters are performing in, it sums up the love story of the characters in “real life.” 

The song comes up again towards the end of the movie. Jamie has become ill and is going through chemo treatments.  While looking at the stars, the song begins quietly and he asks Jamie if she loves him and if she will do one thing for him. The music builds up as Landon asks Jamie to marry him.  The song truly enhances the moment by building up to the moment and the lyrics begin with, “I life my hands up and pray, to be only yours.” The lyrics directly coincide with the scene because Landon asked Jamie to be his. 

The song continues into their wedding scene and the ceremony is given while the instrumentals play in the background.  This one song creates the tone of the entire movie.  It enhances the crucial plot-changing moments of the story. It creates a romantic, loving emotion for the viewer. While the movie includes many other songs, this song was by far the most moving and emotional.