 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Just got the new soundtrack to the new Miyazaki film, which is, naturally, by the great Joe Hisaishi. And it's just wonderful. Recommended highly by the likes of me.
I cannot wait to see the film. There's an Asian DVD floating around eBay but I don't want to take a chance on it - the official Japanese DVD comes out in early July. I must be patient, I must be patient...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love the music, the songs, the Wagner nods, all.
The movie is truely good, too. Simpler than Myazaki's last efforts (and I like that), not unlike Totoro meets The Little Mermaid.
Did you see it in the theater? Or do you have this "Asian" DVD and, if so, how's the quality?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Aug 9, 2009 - 1:52 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
MoxFulder
(Member)
|
Just got the new soundtrack to the new Miyazaki film, which is, naturally, by the great Joe Hisaishi. And it's just wonderful. Recommended highly by the likes of me.
I was going to post briefly about this wonderful score, but I found this older thread and figured I'd bump it, with the film's release impending next weekend. It seems to me, at least, that Disney is taking a bit more serious approach to getting this film out there than Miyazaki's earlier releases; while my kid was watching her Saturday morning shows on TV yesterday morning, EVERY commercial break had an ad for PONYO. I don't recall them doing that for SPIRITED AWAY or HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE.
Anyway, I've been listening to the score a bit recently, and it really is amazing. Joe Hisaishi is one of the masters right now. Wonderful melodies and orchestrations, and some beautifully tongue-in-cheek references to earlier composers like Wagner and Ravel. I can't wait to see how this music works in the film -- most specifically, I want to see whatever scene called for a "happy version" of "Ride of the Valkyries".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
THIS...THIS is the movie I'm waiting ever-so-impatiently to see!
From what I understand, Disney is planning on going all out to give this a healthy, mainstream release. It couldn't be more welcome; I've loaned Miyazaki DVDs to friends who have children, and they like SPIRITED AWAY or KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE every bit as much as Pixar's stuff, once they actually sit down to watch it.
I think that, for mainstream audiences, the fact that it's Japanese animation ("Oh, my God! It's not even AMERICAN! Will I have to read SUBTITLES? That's a fate WORSE THAN DEATH! And it wasn't even done by a COMPUTER, for Pete's sake") might put off a good deal of its' theatrical business. I really don't get it. It'll have an amazingly well-done dub job and so what if it has some cultural referents that might go over the heads of the younger kids?
Oh, and Joe Hisaishi? Total genius.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 14, 2009 - 6:29 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Thor
(Member)
|
Oh, what a cute little film, eh?
It's certainly not as mysterious and subdued as, say, TOTORO, but it oozes of charm and ingenuity. It's got Miyaziki's trademark juxtaposition of a "real" world and a fantasy world and in the cross-communication/cross-pollination between them. I also wonder if he got this idea during the tsunami catastrophe in 2006 or other more man-made disasters, because it has this environmental message running through it.
The mood that Miyazaki creates whenever it rains, is something to get lost in. I also love how he incorporates the Japanese idea of "Mu" in many scenes (also known as "pillow shots" in Ozu's films, for example), wherein a character closes the door and sits down while looking out into thin air. These moments of "narrative emptiness" are of course filled with mood, symbolism and contemplation instead. Stuff you'll NEVER see in a contemporary animation film from Hollywood.
Hisaishi's music was solid, as always. Lots of gorgeous voices and solos, and a strong symphonic style. There were, however, two small issues - one is the temptrack-itis that permeates the scene when Ponyo rides towards the surface and on the waves, a fairly obvious rip of "Ride of the Valkyries". If they wanted that deliberate association, why not use the original instead of proximating it? It's also interesting to note that you guys call this nod "fun" or "nice" when it's Hisaishi doing it whereas if Horner had done it, you would all drag him through a lawnmower and into a furnace. The second issue was the rather childish end title song, which was at odds with the rest of the "mature" music.
Anyways, great film, great score. As usual from these guys.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 14, 2009 - 6:42 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
MoxFulder
(Member)
|
Hisaishi's music was solid, as always. Lots of gorgeous voices and solos, and a strong symphonic style. There were, however, two small issues - one is the temptrack-itis that permeates the scene when Ponyo rides towards the surface and on the waves, a fairly obvious rip of "Ride of the Valkyries". If they wanted that deliberate association, why not use the original instead of proximating it? It's also interesting to note that you guys call this nod "fun" or "nice" when it's Hisaishi doing it whereas if Horner had done it, you would all drag him through a lawnmower and into a furnace. The second issue was the rather childish end title song, which was at odds with the rest of the "mature" music.
Because sometimes you want an association that is just that: association, without dragging into the mix all of the baggage that would come with the original. Here you have a major key version aping of one of the most famous musical excerpts in history, doubtless chosen for reasons germane to the film. I haven't seen the film yet, but I assume the scene in the film is a happy and cheerful one, which the original "Ride", while thrilling, is definitely not happy or cheerful. And you certainly don't want filmgoers being reminded while watching this film of, say, the helicopter assault in APOCALYPSE NOW.
Also, I'm not sure the accusation of a double standard viz. Hisaishi and Horner is well taken. First, Hisaishi's example here is wildly over the top -- it's so obviously a parody (or, more properly, pastiche) of the Wagner that it is a wonderful example of musical humor. What he's done here is not unlike what Carl Stalling used to do in mining classical music for all those Looney Tunes shorts. When Horner "quotes" a classical work, he's not doing parody or pastiche. (Now, I tend to think that Horner tends to mine his own work for ideas more than classical music; I tend myself to not get into the whole "Horner is a plagiarist" debates.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 15, 2009 - 4:03 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Thor
(Member)
|
Also, I'm not sure the accusation of a double standard viz. Hisaishi and Horner is well taken. First, Hisaishi's example here is wildly over the top -- it's so obviously a parody (or, more properly, pastiche) of the Wagner that it is a wonderful example of musical humor. What he's done here is not unlike what Carl Stalling used to do in mining classical music for all those Looney Tunes shorts. When Horner "quotes" a classical work, he's not doing parody or pastiche. (Now, I tend to think that Horner tends to mine his own work for ideas more than classical music; I tend myself to not get into the whole "Horner is a plagiarist" debates.)
But if you try for a moment to envisage a scenario wherein PONYO was scored by Horner, not Hisaishi, how much money would you bet that the Wagner "ode" would be taken as "musical humour" or variations thereof rather than just another rip-off accusation? I'd certainly enter into the wager with you, anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Aug 15, 2009 - 10:19 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
riotengine
(Member)
|
Hisaishi's music was solid, as always. Lots of gorgeous voices and solos, and a strong symphonic style. There were, however, two small issues - one is the temptrack-itis that permeates the scene when Ponyo rides towards the surface and on the waves, a fairly obvious rip of "Ride of the Valkyries". If they wanted that deliberate association, why not use the original instead of proximating it? It's also interesting to note that you guys call this nod "fun" or "nice" when it's Hisaishi doing it whereas if Horner had done it, you would all drag him through a lawnmower and into a furnace. The second issue was the rather childish end title song, which was at odds with the rest of the "mature" music.
Well, Morricone quoted Ride Of the Valkyries in a very playful manner in My Name Is Is Nobody. The Horner comparison in Ponyo seems out of left field to me.
Greg Espinoza
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 15, 2009 - 10:37 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Shogun
(Member)
|
Hisaishi's music was solid, as always. Lots of gorgeous voices and solos, and a strong symphonic style. There were, however, two small issues - one is the temptrack-itis that permeates the scene when Ponyo rides towards the surface and on the waves, a fairly obvious rip of "Ride of the Valkyries". If they wanted that deliberate association, why not use the original instead of proximating it? It's also interesting to note that you guys call this nod "fun" or "nice" when it's Hisaishi doing it whereas if Horner had done it, you would all drag him through a lawnmower and into a furnace. The second issue was the rather childish end title song, which was at odds with the rest of the "mature" music.
Well, Morricone quoted Ride Of the Valkyries in a very playful manner in My Name Is Is Nobody. The Horner comparison in Ponyo seems out of left field to me.
Greg Espinoza
And Goldsmith in King Solomon's Mines.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: |
Aug 15, 2009 - 2:04 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Thor
(Member)
|
Apples and oranges, Thor. I also feel it's a matter of context and how "Valkyries" was used. And Morricone, Goldsmith, and Hisaishi didn't make a habit of this sort of thing. I think they all had the artistic right to make the decision to use the Wagner piece in the way they chose to.
First of all, Morricone and Goldsmith used the exact piece in question. Hisaishi EMULATED it by sticking as close to it as possible, altering a note here and there, changing the key. It's the EXACT same thing that Horner has done on occasion, yet all other composers get carte blanche for some reason or other.
I would bet my life savings that if this had been a Horner score, there would be a million voices crying "foul play" in that scene and there would be NO such arguments about "ah, but you have to look at the context", "what a great hommage" or "oh, what a humourous nod" etc. Isn't that a bit odd, you think?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
