 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
How curious this has been brought up. I rewatched this film just last week after several years and I enjoyed it immensely. It may not have the timeless quality of other Polanski films like Chinatown or Rosemary's Baby, but it's a really well-made thriller, with a tight script and classy mise-en-scéne. It also boasts one of Harrison Ford's all-time best performances as a classic Hitchcockian character, i.e. ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. One of the things I love about the film is indeed how the main character reacts to what happens to him, always in a very plausible and realistic way, much like any ordinary person would do. Maybe only toward the end it becomes a little bit over the top, but for the most part it stays firmly on a very believable ground. It's really how you should make a convincing character in film like this and I really miss this kind of approach in contemporary cinema.
Morricone's score is fantastic and adds a great dimension to the drama. It fits the Morriconian thread of such soundtracks as La Piovra, Le Professionnel and other Euro thrillers in that vein, where moments of tension and disturbance are balanced with sad and poignant lyricism. The main theme is an almost desperate melody, where however the sudden arrival of the major key gives us a sense of hope, like that of the indomitable protagonist played by Harrison Ford.
I reall love the electric bass playing by Nanni Civitenga and the flugelhorn solos by Giovanni Santucci, two great session players who played in dozens of Morricone soundtracks. The OST album was made of suite-like reworkings of the main themes and sequences, while the cues as heard in the film are more spaced out and concise. It would be interesting to know to what extent Morricone wrote the pieces independently, leaving to the director and editor the choice in how to place them (it's known that Morricone often preferred to avoid writing too much "in sync" on the footage) versus what he rewrote and extended specifically for the OST album.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another thoughtful post, Maurizio. Thank you.
Must watch this again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
