THE MATRIX RELOADED:

By Kjell Neckebroeck

(warning : contains spoilers!)

Film music, first and foremost, is a cinematic tool, a means to an end, never initially an end in itself. Therefore, it is impossible to talk about Don Davis' score for THE MATRIX trilogy without referring to the movies for which it was created. I will try to discuss briefly the themes the Wachowski brothers deal with, and then assess how the score fits into their project. Hopefully, the following will show both that Davis' effort is truly remarkable, and that THE MATRIX RELOADED severely curtails its potential.

German philosopher Arnold Gehlen (1904-1976) views man as a "Mangelwesen", a creature at once liberated from the programs (Matrix-lingo) that govern all non-human life, and crippled by the near absence of instincts, which makes us poorly equipped to survive on our own and therefore "wanting". To offset this imperfection, says Gehlen, we have reason. In the course of our evolution, we have used reason to simplify our lives. We invented language as a "means of economy" (allowing us to capture the complexity of life in easy-to-use symbols). More importantly, the technology we have created functions very much as a "prosthetic": it compensates for our physical shortcomings. Just one example: since we do not have fur or body hair, we need artificially-produced heat to protect ourselves from the harsh climatic conditions. On the other hand, technology enables man to become a "builder of cathedrals". This is where technology goes beyond allowing us simply to survive: it enables us to rise above non-human life and realize our potential: to grow and evolve, very much according to the classic Enlightenment paradigm that man is destined to govern nature.

Gehlen's ideas are no less a reflection on the essence of mankind than they are a (commendable) attempt to fit the issue of technology in with the human condition. The ever-tighter link between man and machine, between physical and mechanic (or electronic) has, of course, found its way to the darkened theater. It has always been David Cronenberg's obsession: in CRASH, for instance, the binding and twisting of metal during car crashes resembles the contact of bodies during sex. On a far more cerebral level, Stanley Kubrick deals with the transition of man to machine in 2001 and A.I. Now the Wachowski brothers sneak this theme into summer blockbuster cinema - and make a shitload of money along the way.

The first part of the trilogy was merely a matter of set-up: it explained to its baffled audience exactly what the Matrix is, and introduced the central characters. Going further and digging deeper, RELOADED gets where the Wachowski brothers were going all along :ontology on celluloid. Taken as a whole, RELOADED is a four-star effort not to be missed, yet the results are very uneven. Yes, the action setpieces are awe-inspiring (a few glitches notwithstanding), but I found the pace of the movie conspicuously deliberate. Most of the lengthy dialogue scenes especially, while intellectually challenging, are less-than-impressive from an artistic point of view.

The fundamental questions raised by RELOADED are: what is the essence of man, why are we here, what is/should be our increasingly ambiguous relationship with machines. The Wachowskis go on to elaborate these themes in lengthy exposition scenes: Neo and counselor Hamman talk about how control of machines inside Zion takes a back seat to simple survival. Neo and the oracle talk about free will and determinism. Neo and agent Smith talk about how closely related they have become (pure ontology). Morpheus rallies the crowds of Zion to the impending war with the machines during a monumental speech which is sufficiently totalitarian and lacking in nuance to expose Morpheus as the dogmatic believer he is. Neo and the Merovingian (a hilarious Lambert Wilson) again talk about determinism. Neo and the Architect talk about, well, just about all the above (but, to be modest, I'll need the DVD on this one). And so on, and so forth.

Interspersed between these talky proceedings is some of the most impressive action ever committed to celluloid. Incidentally, THE MATRIX for once warrants the use of computer-generated imagery, since it deals with the idea that the world we live in has been created and governed by machines. Therefore, highly advanced CGI pretending to be (some kind of) reality is what the Matrix, both the concept and the movie trilogy, is all about. Even so, the limitations of CGI-technology are still visible on screen, although the flaws are brief and rare - look at Neo's face during the Burly Brawl sequence. But then again, whose jaws didn't drop during the freeway chase?

So where does Don Davis fit into all this?

It helps to remind ourselves what a film composer can and cannot do. Film music is essentially non-verbal - even a choir and vocal soloists lose their musicality when used only to convey verbal meaning. Instead, (film) music functions metaphorically, expressing content in a non-verbal manner.

By and large, Don Davis has just two types of scenes to score: the extensive dialogue material and the grand action set pieces. During the dialog-laden scenes, the score can do little more than accent significant lines. These cues offer some tentative tension music, the impact of which is understandably limited. For the action material, Davis goes all out: throughout such lengthy cues as the Burly Brawl and Mona Lisa Overdrive, the score for THE MATRIX RELOADED becomes a musical tour-de-force. It includes almost impossibly virtuoso playing, especially by the brass section. However, one has to wonder if, for all its effort, the action music can have all that much impact. While the audience is gasping at John Gaeta's groundbreaking visual effects, the score either tries to enhance the excitement, as if that were necessary, or provides an aural counterpart to the on-screen proceedings, which is a vain effort considering the competition it suffers from the sound effects.

Given these broad restrictions, what exactly does Don Davis choose to score?

In the first part of the trilogy, the score helps define the Matrix. From a visual point of view, the Matrix is all about mathematical configurations; from a non-visual point of view, Davis' gliding brass and string motifs, as well as his eerie orchestrations, create a kind of musical definition of the computer program we call reality. It is safe to say, then, that the score plays a key role in conceptualizing the idea that was the cornerstone of the first movie. The score was largely one-dimensional, and rightly so: defining the Matrix musically was the score's major objective, to the exclusion of themes and motifs relating to characters and the evolution they go through.

RELOADED broadens the canvas and presents Davis with its own set of challenges. First off is the argument of familiarity: we've heard the tricks before, they no longer strike us as original. This argument is inherent to all trilogies - just listen to Howard Shore's music for LORDOF THE RINGS. It would be unfair, however, to judge Davis and Shore solely on these grounds. Let us not forget that the MATRIX and RINGS movies are three parts of one story, rather than three separate movies. This not only invites musical evolution within predetermined parameters, it downright requires it.

RELOADED features new thematic elements that need to be dealt with, such as the underground city of Zion. More importantly, the characters that were introduced in the first part now grow and evolve in significant ways. After turning into the One, Neo struggles to adjust to his newly found powers, and has to make some pretty fundamental choices in the course of the story. Trinity's love for Neo leads her down the path of certain death. Morpheus' beliefs are shaken by the insights revealed by the Architect. The new systems operator of the Nebuchadnezzar is thrown between his sense of duty and the love of his wife. Even agent Smith has evolved in more ways than physical and numerical. All of the trilogy's central characters grow, the narrative arc broadens, and the score must follow suit.

Davis realizes that these developments require musical themes, but refrains from the classic leitmotif approach, which identifies musically every individual character. Instead, he creates an awe-inspiring theme for orchestra and choir, which addresses both the majesty of Zion and the humanity of the story's heroes. The machines and agents, on the other hand, are largely denied a theme of their own, and rather are absorbed into the pre-established Matrix material that Davis composed for the first film. On the album, the various apparitions of the "humanity" theme sound great, but they fail to make much of an impression in the film, since they are mostly buried in the sound mix. It does not help, of course, that Davis unleashes all his orchestral and choral forces during Morpheus' thunderous speech, since the music inevitably gets lost under the dialogue lines and the cheering of the crowds. In this scene, the score paints white on white - especially, there was no need for a choir, since the scene already contains a crowd of 250,000. And when orchestral fury clashes with onscreen cheering, just guess which wins out.

The conspicuously lengthy love-making scene makes for both the score and the movie's most interesting sequence. The Wachowskis intercut between Neo and Trinity making love and the crowds of Zion engaging in a sexually-charged dancefest. The directors more likely than not intended this scene to comment on what they feel is the defining feature of humans as opposed to machines: the physical and the carnal. Interestingly, the music used here is non-organic: the electronic and synthesized landscape does not feature a single orchestral sound. With the visuals and the music speaking of different worlds, this scene enables the Wachowskis to express the aforementioned idea that human and machine existence are already more closely linked than we would care to admit. I must stress that this is arguably the movie's single most accomplished scene, since it succeeds in conveying meaning of significant weight without resorting to verbal means of any kind. It does not feature one line of dialogue, and yet it is every bit as deep and meaningful as Neo's talk with the Architect. Only when meaning is rendered by means other than the spoken or the written word, can cinema really become art. If not, it is merely filmed theater. THE MATRIX RELOADED has both.

For some reason or other, I don't think the score was ever the Wachowskis' primary concern. They apparently went to great lengths to involve other artists in the making of the score, asking Don Davis to collaborate with Rob Dougan, Juno Reactor and Paul Oakenfold. More importantly, they allegedly negotiated a single first-dollar-gross participation point (i.e. one per cent of every dollar the sequels make) to be split among the five key contributors to the sequels - cinematographer Bill Pope, production designer Owen Paterson, visual effects designer John Gaeta, conceptual designer Geoff Darrow and costume designer Kym Barrett. Composer Don Davis is conspicuously absent from this list.

When used with deliberation and intelligence, Davis' score still contributes greatly to the second episode of the Matrix trilogy. It is a work of daring innovation and overwhelming power. Regrettably, in the opinion of this author, most of it is best preserved and enjoyed on disc, out of the context of the film for which it was created.

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