John Barry: Out Of Africa

Out Of Africa is a perfect example of a composer – John Barry – managing to capture a picture in music. It’s music in the key of savannah.

Released: 1985
Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford

The Film: Winner of seven Academy Awards, this is the story of a rich, bored Danish woman who finds love with a free-spirited handsome hunter in turbulent East Africa. Filmed entirely in Kenya and based on a book by Isaac Dinesen and Karen Blixen.

The Composer: John Barry is the genius composer who gave the early James Bond movies their distinctive musical language. He then went on to become one of the most celebrated film composers of modern times, winning five Academy Awards and four Grammys for such memorable scores as Midnight Cowboy, Dances With Wolves and, of course, Out Of Africa.