‘Sexy Beast’ and ‘Peaches’ by The Stranglers: a perfect needle drop
A good film can turn into a great one when the right soundtrack is employed, so when you take a Jonathan Glazer movie, something that’s always going to be great, and add a song as addictive as ‘Peaches’ by The Stranglers to its opening sequence, what you’ll find is pure brilliance.
Glazer’s movies have always ensured a terrific audio experience; the soundtrack to Under the Skin by Mica Levi is hauntingly beautiful (I’ve certainly put housemates ill at ease when they’ve heard it emanating from underneath my bedroom door), while The Zone of Interest won an Oscar for its harrowing sound design, which communicated the horrors of the Holocaust.
Sexy Beast, Glazer’s debut film, is considerably different from the sci-fi leanings of his Scarlett Johansson film or the historical drama that informs his most recent project, which saw him draw from the British tradition of crime flicks, casting Ray Winstone as his central character. Set in Spain, we meet Gal as he sunbathes by his swimming pool with little to do, which is manned by a rather young boy who works for the former criminal, turning a crispy golden brown as he reclines in the heat, covered only by a pathetic excuse for swimming bottoms, and he likes it that way.
The sky is bright, with a view of Spain stretching in the distance. This is what many people dream of, retiring to somewhere like the Costa del Sol and doing absolutely nothing while other people run after you. The opening sequence, which plays out to the entirety of The Stranglers’ 1977 song, is the perfect introduction to the film, establishing Gal’s situation and the subsequent destruction of his peace and comfort.
As that recognisable and slightly mischievous bassline begins, we’re met with Winstone’s middle-aged tanned body, which looks like it would be painful to touch. Now I’m not saying that his body is a sore sight, but it’s certainly a contrast to the lyrics that make up ‘Peaches’, a leering song that many accused of misogyny upon its release due to its voyeuristic point of view.
The song takes the perspective of a man ogling girls on the beach, “peaches” presumably referring to the female arse cheeks he is fixated on. “Strolling along, minding my own business/ Well, there goes a girl and a half/ She’s got me going up and down,” Hugh Cornwell sings, and put that alongside Winstone, his cheeks barely contained in his bright orange speedos, and you get quite the humorous contrast, perfectly setting the tone for this dark comedy.
Not much happens during this opening sequence at the start, where Winstone does a lot of lying around, bossing his young pool boy, while shots of the hot sun and a mysterious woman driving to the villa are spliced in between. Thus, the driving bassline of the Stranglers’ track keeps a level of momentum and intrigue going, culminating in several indicators that things are about to go tits up.
Not only does he reach for an icy towel to cool off his nether region (a potentially sunburned penis can definitely be taken as a warning sign), but then a massive rock falls, seemingly out of nowhere, and crashes into the pool, which has love heart designs at the bottom of it. This huge splash is the ultimate symbol of impending doom, which soon arrives in the form of a former criminal associate, Don, played terrifyingly by Ben Kingsley.
Before we’re pulled into a total world of chaos and violence, though, we get to enjoy a brief moment of this Briton abroad choosing to soak up the sun, and ‘Peaches’ lends the film an initial burst of tongue-in-cheek humour, which soon descends into much darker territory. After I first watched Sexy Beast, I was humming the bassline for days, mumbling the chorus as I washed dishes and got ready for work, and by letting the entire song play out over the opening sequence, we become fully immersed in Gal’s world, which is about to completely change, and it’s one that Glazer ensures we don’t forget anytime soon.
