HE AND SHE L'assoluto Naturale Driving Morricone #38
This series is inspired by a controversy thread where someone posited the idea that besides THE MISSION and some Sergio Leone westerns Ennio Morricone hasn't written anything great. Rather than making my usual comment that most of Morricone's great scores are from Italy and trying to get Americans to listen to them is like getting them to see movies with subtitles, I decided to take another tact. Since I am at an age where I will only be able to make my case a finite number of times I decided to turn this into a series presenting each great score one at a time, sort of like recordman.
When most composers are confronted with doing a film that is experimental in nature then there is a natural tendency to lean toward the atonal and even dissonant, whether it be John Williams (IMAGES) or John Barry (DUTCHMAN) and Ennio Morricone is no exception (A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY). But Ennio has done so many different types of those films that sometimes the result can be quite pleasant (MADDALENA) or, like this one, very cool stuff. There are two main themes in this film, a lowkey romantic theme and a secondary theme that struck me the first time I heard it. Like so much of Morricone I can't even describe it in any familiar terms. It isn't quite a tango or a samba so I simply call it driving music because a) it has a driving rhythym to it and b) it accompanies a lot of scenes where the characters are driving. And for those who prefer the love theme I chose a rendition of the driving theme where the love theme is used as counterpoint about half way in, so you have a twofer here:
…and for the umpteenth time this is a totally unique piece of music unlike anything Morricone had done previously or since. And the number of times I say that about his pieces boggles the mind. You can tell L’ASSOLUTO NATURALE leans toward the experimental and abstract when the cast of characters have no names and the end credits refer to them as He, She, Mother, Aunt, etc, Which is really unusual for long time Morricone collaborator Mauro Bolgnini who usually directs period dramas like THE LADY OF THE CAMELIAS and METELLO. Laurence Harvey is a British photographer on holiday in Italy where he encounters a middle class Sylva Koscina. That is where reality ends because this is a world of strange sets and odd cinematography reflecting the Goffredo Parise novel and theater piece it was based on. The music gives it an incredible energy and crispness. That and the amount of Miss Koscina we get to see is what makes the movie watchable.
This was a cut you could count on being in most Cinevox compilation albums and was one of the many early Morricone cues that sold me on him.
Thanks Stephan! Simplicity seems easy sometimes but it really is a tricky affair. Also I wonder if I should use the English title to all of these scores since few have that title on the soundtrack cover. But again it is getting those who do not know the piece to listen for the first time and then if they want more can follow up with the Italian title.
Really enjoy the music from this one but for some reason it never seems to hold my attention when I'm listening to the whole score.Listened to it again last night twice in a row after I noticed your thread still notice the same thing happening in me with my mind wondering elsewhere not as much on the second spin though.
Agreed, another fabulous main theme (which appeared on at least two compilations I owned on vinyl). I purchased the score in the early days of CD as a double with Metti, Una Sera a Cena and it comes off second best.
But the single expanded score (re-mastered?) release is worth owning as the score stands well on its own. I struggle to think of it under its UK name ... to me it's always been L'Assoluto Naturale
I'm not sure I'm taken with the idea of viewing the film given your description, though acknowledge that Ms. Koscina may make it worthwhile.
NP: (as I haven't played it for some time): L'Assoluto Naturale
Funny, I played this CD at a work party/potluck lunch thingy a few years back (I was the only one who'd take the initiative to play music at those events), and about halfway through the album, one woman asked me, "Haven't we heard this song like 10 times already?"
Agreed, another fabulous main theme (which appeared on at least two compilations I owned on vinyl). I purchased the score in the early days of CD as a double with Metti, Una Sera a Cena and it comes off second best.
But the single expanded score (re-mastered?) release is worth owning as the score stands well on its own. I struggle to think of it under its UK name ... to me it's always been L'Assoluto Naturale
I'm not sure I'm taken with the idea of viewing the film given your description, though acknowledge that Ms. Koscina may make it worthwhile.
NP: (as I haven't played it for some time): L'Assoluto Naturale
Funny, I played this CD at a work party/potluck lunch thingy a few years back (I was the only one who'd take the initiative to play music at those events), and about halfway through the album, one woman asked me, "Haven't we heard this song like 10 times already?"
She was serious.
Somehow I can see this. This basicly has only two themes. The main theme that Barry fell in love with and I enjoy also, gets some variation but the driving theme is just that. I can hear the car horn in it. There is probably more variety in the LA COSA BUFFA monothematic album. But, particularly while I'm driving, I can't get enough of it. It's addictive and again I can't think of a more original piece of music.
Funny, I played this CD at a work party/potluck lunch thingy a few years back (I was the only one who'd take the initiative to play music at those events), and about halfway through the album, one woman asked me, "Haven't we heard this song like 10 times already?"
She was serious.
Somehow I can see this. This basicly has only two themes. The main theme that Barry fell in love with and I enjoy also, gets some variation but the driving theme is just that. I can hear the car horn in it. There is probably more variety in the LA COSA BUFFA monothematic album. But, particularly while I'm driving, I can't get enough of it. It's addictive and again I can't think of a more original piece of music.
Funny, I played this CD at a work party/potluck lunch thingy a few years back (I was the only one who'd take the initiative to play music at those events), and about halfway through the album, one woman asked me, "Haven't we heard this song like 10 times already?"
She was serious.
Somehow I can see this. This basicly has only two themes. The main theme that Barry fell in love with and I enjoy also, gets some variation but the driving theme is just that. I can hear the car horn in it. There is probably more variety in the LA COSA BUFFA monothematic album. But, particularly while I'm driving, I can't get enough of it. It's addictive and again I can't think of a more original piece of music.
Barry? Barry who?
James
Barry. John Barry. Who is Bond. James Bond. Who is Bond 1965. Who is James.
