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Posted: |
Apr 20, 2020 - 2:57 PM
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By: |
Grecchus
(Member)
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Iconic theme. My FSM is still sealed in its wrapper, in which state it has remained for . . . well, it's been several years now. I can't bear the thought of opening it.
I think of The Belstone Fox as the companion piece to Born Free. Both films were directed by James Hill, who also appears not to have taken any chances with his ideas on TBF, because he also wrote the screenplay, in which he kept the storyline ideas free of complication. For me, personally, this is a classic 70s film, cut from the same cloth as Born Free. I also have the Laurie Johnson score for it, produced by Dragon's Domain.
I sometimes wonder how Laurie Johnson approached his composition task when he had John Barry's very tough cookie to live up to, not to mention the same director to try and please. I think he did a pretty good job.
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What I remember most about this much appreciated CD from FSM is how and where I played it.
It was during a time that I was doing a lot of local and international travel. John Barry’s score somehow ticked the boxes of being at times joyful, sorrowful, and action orientated—several moods.
The other Barry score I was playing a lot at that time was The Quiller Memorandum.
Funny how I link both, in particular Born Free, with locations and work rather than the images from the film! Do you have a similar experience with Born Free or another score?
Chris
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Posted: |
Apr 23, 2020 - 5:45 PM
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By: |
Col. Flagg
(Member)
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Funny how I link both, in particular Born Free, with locations and work rather than the images from the film! Do you have a similar experience with Born Free or another score?
Hi Chris! For me it's Barry's Moviola Vol.1, Playing by Heart, and Raise the Titanic (re-recording) – all of which I associate strongly with my travels to and through the west coast of North America and my time in Los Angeles in the mid to late 90s. They still conjure the Napa and San Fernando valleys whenever I hear them. A time of great personal and professional adventure by plane, train and automobile.
Barry's (unrivalled, I think) facility for sumptuous melancholy lures me always. With Born Free, Monte Walsh, and other fairly obscure movies (to this Canadian), I only ever had the soundtrack to go by. Doesn't seem to matter as much with Barry's work, since much like John Williams, his album assemblies work so well and make it a cinch for the listener to enter their sonic world.
Oh, and then there's Thomas Newman's excellent and atypical The Good German, which I always associate with Lane Cove, Sydney, Melbourne, and lamingtons!
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Hi Saul! Thanks so much for sharing your detailed thoughts. This is the sort of post I love reading. It was wonderful to finally see you on the FSM Zoom meetup as well.
I completely agree with you about the John Barry melancholy. There’s something special about how he reaches towards that feeling and I’ve wondered what he drew on himself to get there.
What is fascinating about his music is how it seems to inadvertently “line up” with imagery in my real world. I seem to recall an interview where Barry himself noted this happened for him (with other music) driving around New York. Barry’s music seems to do it more than other composers for me. Maybe I listen to his music more than others! But maybe it’s the way he conveys a sort of inner monologue of mood.
I remember a strange coincidence listening to my pre-iPod music device during my time living in the UK. My National Rail train was pulling into Waterloo station and I then needed to switch to my local tube train. It was during rush hour, so it was all quite bustling with people. The “Street Chase” from Thunderball just started with the entry of the OO7 theme being perfectly timed to the doors opening on one train. The bulk of the cue played with me, like James Bond, walking through the masses of people across platforms and to and from escalators. I made it to my tube train, the doors closed perfectly in time with the brass stinger at the end. Phew.
Stay safe and go well!
Chris
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