After being unfairly snubbed for her mesmerizing Great Gatsby track “Young and Beautiful,” somber songstress Lana Del Rey will be taking another shot at Oscar this winter by contributing two new tracks to Tim Burton’s buzzy biopic Big Eyes.
The acclaimed “Born to Die” singer’s contributions to Big Eyes were only revealed when the film started screening for industry insiders a few weeks ago. It’s unclear whether The Weinstein Company, which is behind the pic, will be making a bigger push for Del Rey’s title track “Big Eyes” (which is prominently featured mid-film) or the credit song “I Can Fly.”
Both songs are reportedly written from the perspective of Big Eyes protagonist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), a painter whose ruthless husband (Christoph Waltz) took the credit for her art for years before she finally ousted him in a courtroom. Many attribute “Young and Beautiful”‘s exclusion from the category to its less obvious relation to the subject matter on display in The Great Gatsby, so it’s possible that Del Rey’s more on-the-nose numbers here will boost her chances in the category.
Larry Karaszewski, Big Eyes‘ co-writer as well as one of its producers, said that, “Tim showed her the film and she fell in love with it.” He added that:
“Women in particular seem to get the movie, and Lana really got the movie. The whole thing is about a woman who can’t find her voice [and when “Big Eyes” plays with the refrain “big eyes, big lies,”] it almost becomes a musical. Lana’s song expresses what Margaret is feeling so perfectly, it’s like a soliloquy of her inner thoughts.”
On paper, “I Can Fly” sounds like the more radio-friendly of the two, but it’s easy to envision The Weinstein Company pouring its efforts into pumping up the title track, which is more directly linked to the rest of the film. We’ll see whether Del Rey might stand a chance of getting some Oscar love when Big Eyes arrives in theaters on Christmas Day. She’ll certainly have some competition in the category – expect Tegan and Sara’s “Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie to make an appearance, and other soundtrack artists include Common (Selma) and Coldplay (Unbroken).
