Great films where music is a central theme.


I'm a film lover for as long as I can remember. There's nothing like a film that combines my passion for music and film. I'm going to leave out concert films from this, as there are plenty of threads on that. Lets stick to other films - dramas or documentaries - that use music as a central theme, or have it as a key element in the narrative. Here are a few of my own favorites to get the ball rolling.

As it is in Heaven
The Bands Visit
Schultze Gets the Blues
Troubled Water (the Erik Poppe film)
Sweet and Lowdown
Bird
'Round Midnight
I'm Not Here

Documentaries:

Throw Down Your Heart
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
Lets Get Close (Bruce Weber)
Buena Vista Social Club
Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man

So it's really could be split into two threads; Narative films and Documentaries. But lets try leaving it open to both, just no concert films. What are some of your favorites?
jax2
From that list, some standouts (I'm being generous with the OP's concept, especially "great film"):

8 Mile
Hairspray (the original)
Wayne's World

Films about music tend to be inextricably also about the contemporary culture.
Blade Runner.
Carmen ( Saura ).
Baraka ( documentary ).
1492:Conquest of Paradise.
A Man and a Woman.
Circle of Iron ( aka The Silent Flute ).
This thread has prompted me to get several of the movies, which I really enjoyed (The Bands Visit for one). I have to add in my own 2cents, not to add a new one to those already listed, but to reinforce the need for *anybody* interested in music to watch 'The Commitments'. Not only is the music superlative, but the story line and character development are massively captivating. I do not consider myself a movie buff by any means, but I *am* a music buff, and the *only* movie I have seen multiple, multiple times (I would guess between 50 to 100) and love it more with each successive viewing.
You have to be able to tolerate the massive amounts of profanity however, which in Dublin is used as a form of punctuation without any implied profanity