Vangelis - Missing (Opening Theme)

This is the theme music from the 1982 film, "Missing", directed by Konstantinos Gavras (AKA Constantin Costa-Gavras.) The film is based on a scandal that took place in Chile in 1973. Specifically, it is based on the disappearance of journalist Charles Horman. (Just for the record, the country is never referred to by name in the film, but its capital city, Santiago, is mentioned.)

Horman had attempted to expose a conspiracy between the American and Chilean governments to overthrow Chilean president Salvador Allende. Unfortunately, he was later kidnapped by forces loyal to the conspirators, triggering a manhunt. It was later discovered that Horman had been executed when his body was discovered in a morgue.

Jack Lemmon stars as Horman's father, Ed, and Sissy Spacek as Horman's wife, Beth.

One of Costa-Gavras's most effective techniques in the film is the manner in which it is established to be based on a true story in the opening scene, although the ending scene states that the American government denies the existence of the events.

Much like Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11", the film caused controversy for its portrayal of American interference in other countries' affairs, and was at one point banned in Chile because of its depiction of the Pinochet regime. (Speaking of Michael Moore, the overthrow of Allende and his replacement with Pinochet was mentioned in the "What a Wonderful World" montage in "Bowling for Columbine.") Nevertheless, Costa-Gavras was awarded the Palme d'Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his work. The film also won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Picture. In addition, Lemmon and Spacek were nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, for their performances.

One of Vangelis's most beautiful soundtracks, "Missing" is at times haunting and often rather melancholy, helping to convey the loss felt by the protagonists, as well as the unstable political situation. Like "The Bounty", the soundtrack has never been released on CD despite much demand, although the opening theme was included on Vangelis's 1989 soundtrack compilation, "Themes."

The video itself consists of some photos taken by (and, in one case, of) the Hubble Space Telescope, combined with some footage from an educational film created by the Maryland Deptartment of Education and from a NASA documentary. Although it's kind of belated, this video could also be considered a comemmoration of the 20th anniversary of the HST's launch.

Please note that there's a slight editing error in one of the photos - the name of the website that provided the photo is clearly visible! I bet that might possibly kill the ambience for some of you, but I hope you'll forgive me for that.

Oh, and one other thing - and this is important - I watched part of the film shortly after I originally uploaded the video, and I discovered that the piece in the video is actually the film's ENDING theme, not the opening theme as stated in the title. Unfortunately, it's too late to change the title, seeing that the video had already been seen by thousands of viewers when I first uncovered this fact. I know I might get possibly flagged for this, but I hope you'll forgive me for this as well.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Missing
• Vangelis
• Costa-Gavras
• Hubble Space Telescope
• Photos
• Jack Lemmon
• Sissy Spacek
• Charles Horman
• Salvador Allende
• Santiago
• Chile
• Healing
• Meditation

[richiebear1969]

"I just thank God we live in a country where we can still put people like you in jail."

[Scifimaster92]

@richiebear1969 "Ed Horman filed suit, charging eleven government officials, including Henry A. Kissinger, with complicity and negligence in the death of his son. The body was not returned home until seven months later, making an accurate autopsy impossible. After years of litigation, the information necessary to prove or disprove complicity remained classified as secrets of state. The suit was dismissed."

[Dhruv905]

1:08-1:20 : im speechless at tht sight!

[Scifimaster92]

@Dhruv905 That image depicts galaxy cluster Abell 370, and it is one of the HST's most spectacular images indeed (especially when you consider how far away the cluster is from Earth.)

[maespip]

A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top.

[MrJCBright]

I love the String Sound at 1:10 !!!! is amazing!!!!!. Joel, from Argentina!

[whipsucker]

I was living in Manila in the early 80s and the President of the Phillipines Marcos was killing all the people who were against him.....they just disappeared....like in the movie Missing. It was a scary time to live in Manila. The following year change came after the phoney elections took place and the people refused to accept Marcos as the leader and Cory Aquino took the role as the duly elected President. Such a joy to be a part of this time.

[cubdukat]

@cubdukat Actually, as it turns out, there were two separate suits, both by three members of the State Department. One was against Universal and Costa-Gavras, and the other was against Hauser. The Hauser suit was dismissed because of the statute of limitations, and they lost the one against Universal.

[cubdukat]

The State Department sued both Universal Pictures and Thomas Hauser, the author of the book "Missing" was based on, claiming defamation of character. That's why both the book and the movie weren't available for a while. It finally got thrown out because the statute of limitations had passed, so they were able to put it back out again.

Shame they weren't able to get the disclaimer removed...

[richiebear1969]

@Scifimaster92 I saw this movie with the parents in '82. The saddest scenes were at the soccer stadium and the morgue with so many dead people that had yet to be identified.

[chiffmonkey]

@azraeltear They both have a fantastic ability to create some very simple yet memorable themes. :)

[azraeltear]

@chiffmonkey shit, I haven't thought that way before, but you're right. Both composers kick ass

[drchepa]

bonito video, pero porque siempre que oimos a vangelis ponemos planetas y galaxias? precisamente ESTE tema trata de la naturaleza humana mas bien del drama humano de un padre desesperado buscando a su hijo en chile, buen intento pero......

[hungrybill]

This was the background music for the previews of the movie "The Natural". I was intrigued by the music and sat through "The Natural", constantly thinking: "When is that melody going to start?". It was years later before I saw "Missing" and heard it again.