Films that have featured PSB songs
This list is the "flipside" of part of my separate list of Pet Shop Boys songs that have been used in films and "non-musical" TV shows. In other words, it presents the same data—at least with regard only to films—but organized in a different way. Please note, however, that it does not include "TV movies," documentaries originally shown on television, concert films, and "direct-to-video" films. And it ignores the Boys' own latter-day score for the silent classic Battleship Potemkin.
The films are listed in the order in which they were released into circulation:
- It Couldn't
Happen Here (U.K. 1988)
Well, duh! Lots of early PSB tunes were used in the Pet Shop Boys' very own feature film—some in their entirety, others only as brief snippets:
- Scandal (U.K. 1989)
"Nothing Has Been Proved" was composed specifically for this film and played (the original Dusty Springfield version, of course) over the end credits.
- Lethal Weapon 2 (U.S. 1989)
The Eight Wonder/Patsy Kensit rendition of the Tennant-Lowe song "I'm Not Scared" is used in this movie, in which Kensit herself has a role as a secretary being romanced by Mel Gibson's character.
- Mr. Frost (France/U.S. 1990)
Liza Minnelli's version of the PSB song "So Sorry, I Said" plays during the end credits.
- Nelly et Monsieur Arnaud (France 1995)
"I Want a Dog" (the Introspective mix) could be heard in a party scene.
- Vacanze
Di Natale 2000 ("Christmas Holiday 2000") (Italy 1999)
Used "I Don't Know What You Want But I Can't Give It Any More" near the conclusion of the film.
- CyberWorld (U.S. 2000)
This celebration of 3D animation featured the music video of "Liberation" among its segments.
- Donnie Darko (U.S. 2001)
"West End Girls" was used in a dance scene only in the original "rough cut" of the film, later replaced by Duran Duran's "Notorious"
- Party Monster (U.S. 2003)
"It's a Sin" can apparently be heard during a hallucination scene
- Melissa P (Italy 2005)
Both "Being Boring" and "It's a Sin" were used in this film.
- Montag Kommen die Fenster ("Come Monday the Window") (Germany 2006)
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (U.S. 2007)
"To Speak Is a Sin" serves in one scene as the music to which a group of couples dance rather forlornly in a bar.
- Turbo (U.S. 2008)
This ski film includes a sequence during which the Michael Mayer Kompakt Remix of "Flamboyant" plays.
- Bronson (U.K. 2009)
Famously (and/or infamously) makes use of "It's a Sin" during a scene set in a mental institution in which the patients dance to the song.
- Cea mai fericita fata din lume ("The Happiest Girl in the World") (Romania 2009)
- El cónsul de Sodoma ("The Consul of Sodom") (Spain 2009)
This film biography of the Spanish poet Jaime Gil de Biedma includes a scene in which the elderly protagonist watches a nude young man dance to the PSB version of "Always on My Mind."
- Diana (U.K. 2013)
This film dealing with the final years of the Princess of Wales shows the distraught Diana seeking to console herself by going out to a club where she eventually dances to "West End Girls."
- Mountains May Depart (China 2015)
- Blinded by the Light (U.K. 2019)
Set in 1987, this movie centers on the son of a Pakistani immigrant to Britain, who become enamored of the music of Bruce Springsteen. Although most of the film's music is indeed by Springsteen, other period music can be heard as well, including an opening sequence set to the Pet Shop Boy's "It's a Sin." One of the characters also specifically asserts that it's the best #1 hit of the year.
- Tetris (U.K./U.S. 2023)
Based on events surrounding Dutch videogame designer Henk Rogers's efforts to secure the rights to the video game Tetris in the late 1980s, this film employs "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" over an extended portion of the closing credits.
- Unsyncable (Canada, 2023)
This documentary follows a diverse group of Canadian and U.S. senior citizens as they prepare for and take part in synchronized swimming competitions. The PSB remake of "Always on My Mind" serves as background music during a beach sequence that introduces one of these elderly athletes, Cris Meier-Windes.
- All of Us Strangers (U.K., 2023)
Described by Wikipedia as a "romantic fantasy… loosely based on the 1987 novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada," this film concerns a gay man on the cusp of a new relationship who somehow finds himself back at his childhood home, complete with his deceased parents, just as they were in the circa 1987 when he was 12 years old shortly before his parents were killed in a car crash—only he himself is an adult. Not surprisingly, the film includes music of this mystical late-seventies "resetting," with the PSB version of "Always on My Mind" apparently playing a significant role, perhaps because the main character's late parents are indeed very often (if not literally always) on his mind. (The song also features very prominently in the film's trailer.)
This Adam Sandler comedy employs "Always on My Mind" during a gay benefit/costume party scene.
"Rent" can be heard playing on a car radio near the start of hte film.
Chinese director Jia Zhangke employs the PSB version of "Go West" as background music in the opening and closing scenes of this film. As he has stated, he chose it because the film, set during an extended period beginning in 1999, begins at a time when discos were becoming extremely popular in China. "'Go West' was my favorite song and it left a deep impression on me. Because whenever they played this song, all the young people in the disco, it didn't matter whether you know each other or not, would line up and start dancing together."
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to note—
- Cool World (U.S. 1992)
The Electronic song "Disappointed" plays during a scene set in a casino. While of course it's not really a "Pet Shop Boys song," it was co-written by Neil and features his lead vocals, so it's well worth noting here.
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