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Why the film composer Michael Small has not received more acclaim than he has I do not know. His music is discreet, but like a martial artist, using the minimum of means, he knew all the pressure points to produce a modern soundtrack with a completely devastating effect. His music for thrillers was unrivalled. Scores of his which have been most influential on me are The Parallax View (1974) directed by Alan Pakula (check out the boat sequence!) and Marathon Man (1976). From Michael Small I learned that less can be more and that a film score's individuality can rely on a very Small collection of sounds and motives. Even in films like Jaws: the Revenge (1987), the way he tightrope-walks between film sound and soundtrack (shark transmitter and score) is very clever. Wonderful.
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