After the success of the critically acclaimed Belgian independent film, music from The Broken Circle Breakdown has now been made available digitally in the UK

The original soundtrack for The Broken Circle Breakdown, the film Belgium officially selected as its submission for Best Foreign Language Film to the 2014 Academy Awards®, is now available in the UK. The soundtrack, which was the top-selling soundtrack of all time in its home country of Belgium, is an energetic collection of classic bluegrass songs as performed by The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band, a touring band that formed out of the film’s production.

The soundtrack was crafted by the film’s composer Björn Eriksson, who took existing bluegrass songs and created new arrangements while also writing new songs for the film. Lead actors Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh perform their own songs and are part of the off-screen Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band, whose European tour is sold out through 2014. The full band also includes Eriksson, Nils De Caster (violin, mandolin, vocals), Karl Eriksson (banjo, vocals), Thomas De Smet (bass) and Bert Van Bortel (guitar, madolin, vocals).

“Bluegrass is integrated in a variety of ways into the story and forms the intrinsic link between all the main issues that appear in the film,” director Felix Van Groeningen said on the film’s music. “We have tried to let the songs find their spot in the scenario in a more organized manner and by doing so, give them the greatest possible dramatic impact. Sometime a song is purely narrative and helps to tell the story or is even used as an ellipsis. In other places, we select a given song because it underpins the emotions.”

The Broken Circle Breakdown is the story of Elise (Veerle Baetens) and Didier (Johan Heldenbergh), who fall in love at first sight. She has her own tattoo shop and he plays the banjo in a bluegrass band. They bond over their shared enthusiasm for American music and culture, and dive headfirst into a sweeping romance that plays out on and off stage — but when an unexpected tragedy hits their new family, everything they know and love is tested. The Broken Circle Breakdown is an intensely moving portrait of a relationship from beginning to end, propelled by a soundtrack of foot-stomping bluegrass.

The Broken Circle Breakdown (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

1. Will the Circle Be Unbroken – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
2. The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
3. Dusty Mixed Feelings – Björn Eriksson
4. Wayfaring Stranger – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
5. Rueben’s Train – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
6. Country In My Genes – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
7. Further On Up The Road – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
8. Where Are You Heading, Tumbleweed? – Björn Eriksson
9. Over In The Gloryland – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
10. Cowboy Man – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
11. If I Needed You – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
12. Carved Tree In – Björn Eriksson
13. Sandmountain – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
14. Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band
15. Blackberry Blossom – The Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band

Watch the trailer here!

Related Posts