This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at Beyond Borders (2003) by James Horner.
Beyond Borders is a unique score for James Horner and features some of his most striking ideas and writing since the turn of the century. The score includes some of his most innovative and occasionally harsh electronics he’s ever had, some of his most evocative ethnic music he’s ever written, and some of the most culturally diverse notions he’s attempted.
The film spans Ethiopia, England, Cambodia, and Chechnya, and called upon Horner to provide a musical identity for most of the locales and for the most part he succeeds. In my opinion he succeeds the most, by far and away, in Ethiopia, where the incredible vocals, percussion, and dreamy synths paint an aural picture unlike anything I’ve heard and really take my breath away. His music for Cambodia is infrequently attractive, sometimes performing thematic material on woodwinds or piano, but mostly features dominant electronics and bold synthetic textures to express the harsh oppressive nature of the Khmer Rouge. I have to admit that some of the synths grate, but some of them are really, really impressive for Horner. The weakest spot of the score ethnically is Chechnya, where the film spends the least amount of time and has the least amount of time to breathe and get to know the culture, and this is reflected in Horner’s music.
The existing CD release for Horner’s score is divided up into untitled sections represented each region (“Ethiopia I”, “Ethiopia II”, etc.) and offers little description into events in the film, something that I will try to remedy in my description in the breakdown. The CD has a runtime of 55min 35sec, and the film version of the score runs 61 minutes, but this does not mean there isn’t a lot of missing material. A lot of the CD tracks are heavily edited for the film, and one 6-minute track, “Chechnya I”, is unused in the film altogether so in actuality, the total amount of known original score written for the film comes to 78 minutes and 10 seconds, even though not all of it is in the film. The amount of unreleased/missing score from the film itself runs over 23 minutes.
The unreleased material is quite varied and offers many different takes on the themes from the score and the different locales from the film, making an expansion of the score worthwhile in my opinion. There is roughly an equivalent amount of missing music from each section of the film, actually (Ethiopia, Cambodia, Chechnya), although some of it takes place in London. Most of it is further exploration of the themes Horner wrote for the score on clarinet, piano, synths, strings, or woodwinds, and sometimes there is unreleased suspense music or ambient moments. My favorite unreleased cue is what I call “So Much to Lose, So Much to Gain” which is a heartbreaking 3-minute piece, very somber, underscoring the moments when Angelina Jolie’s character says goodbye to her sleeping children for what will be (unknown to her) the last time.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 55min 35sec COMPLETE FILM VERSION SCORE RUNTIME: 61min 00sec UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 23min 35sec
ALL KNOWN ORIGINAL MUSIC WRITTEN FOR THE FILM (INCLUDING UNEDITED CD TRACKS, UNUSED TRACKS, AND/OR ALTERNATE FILM VERSIONS, WITH NO IDENTICAL DUPLICATION REGARDING FILM TRACKS & CD TRACKS): 78min 10sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
+ – previously unreleased (or includes previously unreleased material)
1. Hunger (0:26) + 2. Demonstration Ends (1:42) + 3. The Boy (1:00) + 4. Decision (3:00) + – (after unreleased first 1:00, includes “Ethiopia I”) 5. Ethiopia (6:30) – (CD track “Ethiopia II”) 6. He Who Steals From Death (0:50) + 7. Bedside and Graveside (2:20) + 8. Desperate Times, Desperate Measures (1:05) + 9. Nighttime Vigil / One Life (2:35) – (includes “Ethiopia IV”) 10. Leaving Ethiopia (2:10) – (CD track “Ethiopia III”) 11. Disillusioned Marriage (0:55) + 12. Journey Upriver (3:45) + – (after unreleased first 1:00, includes “Cambodia I”) 13. Unaware Smugglers (2:21) – (includes first few minutes of “Cambodia II”) 14. Sacrificed Morality (1:57) + 15. Khmer Rouge Oppression (5:50) – (includes final 5:50 of “Cambodia II”) 16. Grief Connection (5:15) + – (after unreleased first 1:45, includes “Cambodia III”) 17. Sarah’s Birthday Wish (0:56) + 18. Find Nick (2:15) – (includes last few minutes of “Cambodia IV”) 19. So Much to Lose, So Much to Gain (2:57) + 20. Chechnyan Village (1:47) + 21. Balkan Search (4:15) + 22. Red Cross Run (2:55) – (includes first half of “Chechnya II”) 23. The Letter (0:58) + 24. End Credits (4:02) – (includes first 4 minutes of “Chechnya IV”)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Ethiopia I (2:14) 2. Ethiopia II (6:16) 3. Ethiopia III (2:13) 4. Ethiopia IV (4:15) 5. Cambodia I (2:42) 6. Cambodia II (9:56) 7. Cambodia III (3:26) 8. Cambodia IV (4:56) 9. Chechnya I (6:16) – (unused in film) 10. Chechnya II (4:41) 11. Chechnya III (2:23) 12. Chechnya IV (6:15)
I've never seen this film Dep. I remember the CD arrived in a package that also contained House Of Sand & Fog (I think it was that). I was blown away by the first listen...such beauty and almost a change of pace from Horner. I agree some tracks go a bit Red Heat and drone on too much, but the brilliance of the emo stuff more than makes up for that. Do you rate the film Dep? Is it worth a watch?
I've never seen this film Dep. I remember the CD arrived in a package that also contained House Of Sand & Fog (I think it was that). I was blown away by the first listen...such beauty and almost a change of pace from Horner. I agree some tracks go a bit Red Heat and drone on too much, but the brilliance of the emo stuff more than makes up for that. Do you rate the film Dep? Is it worth a watch?
The film is above average, not much more. I liked it the first time I saw it. It's not a genuine "message movie" that will inspire you and make you sincerely think about world issues, it uses those things as more of a backdrop for the love story between Jolie and Clive Owen, but it is very well-scored and well-shot with some terrific sequences. The standoff in the Cambodian village with the hand-grenade (if you watch the film, you'll know what I mean) is insaaaaaaane intense and I'd say worth watching the film just for that scene alone. Horner's music sounds great in the film and the visuals match it perfectly, so personally, because I also think the two leads have great chemistry despite some clichéd schmaltz, I would say check out the movie!
I've still never seen this film but the score popped up in my playlist today. It's a lovely and varied score by Horner. The main theme is like a much more tuneful BOPHA, with an easier hook or catch. The ethnic stuff is really well done too. Quite unique but still unmistakeable Horner. It might not appeal to Horner fans who prefer his more orchestral/symphonic traditional writing, although that's not to say it's all ambient synths and percussion. There's a lot to like in this one. Any other fans?
