 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
It's soft and easygoing.
Not like his usual guitar driven score; I like it very much.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you're expecting a romantic orchestral adventure score in the vein of Robin Hood, Zorro, Three Musketeers, etc. you'll be very disappointed. It is a low-key score for synthesizer and guitar.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 20, 2009 - 11:45 PM
|
|
|
|
By: |
SchiffyM
(Member)
|
I think about half of this score is very charming, mostly the music for guitar with accompaniment. But the synthesized swordplay music and faux-processional themes are very, very thin. I'm not objecting the the use of synths, mind you. And the film is very light, so I hardly wish that Knopfler hammered harder. It's just that there's no depth to the synth sound; it's simple to the point of being feeble.
I prefer Knopfler's "Local Hero" (a thoroughly charming movie, incidentally) and "Cal." But, as I said, the "Princess Bride" score does have some lovely moments. Just not, for me, enough of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In his work with Dire Straits Mr. Knopfler displayed a real cinematic flair – composing music and writing lyrics for extended wide-screen pop tracks that told stories, limned emotional states, and delineated characters – often featuring lengthy instrumental-only sections.
In his cinema scoring work, he did the same for projects that suited his rather jazzy, folk-inspired and free form melodic sense. Take the “I Know Where I’m Going”-inspired “Local Hero” in which our duck-out-of-water Hero is first introduced in Texas with diegetic country music blaring on his car radio – which is replaced in the course of the story as Mr. Knopfler weaves the score as a forlorn, but quite lovely, fabric of synthesizers and Scottish instruments to represent the heartbeat of the never-never land village. The fabric of the score becomes the fabric of the village – especially during a dance sequence in which a rag-tag but sincere local ensemble plays for the gathering. The score comes to represent the yearning and awakening senses of the “Hero” of the title – flowering into beauty during quiet moments or fluttering behind natural phenomena (like the aurora borealis) – functioning not like pop songs but as an almost natural tapestry of sound and emotion. The end of the film in which our Hero arrives back in Texas always strikes me as heartbreaking. The loud diegetic country music has now been totally replaced by soft, non-diegetic, interior, music -- a soft but yearning synthesizer – as he wanders through his Texas apartment, visits the balcony, and tacks some photos to a bulletin board. The music then flowers into full blown melodic rock as he phones the village – his paradise lost -- the theme music suddenly soaring behind the sound of a telephone box gone unanswered – loudly lamenting as we as viewers are allowed to return to the village which our Hero has been forced to abandon, probably forever.
Some of Mr. Knopfler’s other scores are just as good – especially “Cal” and “Comfort and Joy”. I’m less fond of his work on “Last Exit to Brooklyn” and “The Princess Bride” – but they also display flashes of, I would say, near genius. It’s best to sample and audition his scores before you leap (or by all means see the films, most of which are wonderful!) so as not to be disappointed by his decidedly non-bombastic approach to his film assignments. I agree with the general consensus that the score for “The Princess Bride” could have been a bit more dramatic – but it does have some lovely moments, too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Can you tell I am a big Knopfler/Dire Straits "fan" from way back when....guess I'm showing my age!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In his cinema scoring work, he did the same for projects that suited his rather jazzy, folk-inspired and free form melodic sense. Take the “I Know Where I’m Going”-inspired “Local Hero” in which our duck-out-of-water Hero is first introduced in Texas with diegetic country music blaring on his car radio – which is replaced in the course of the story as Mr. Knopfler weaves the score as a forlorn, but quite lovely, fabric of synthesizers and Scottish instruments to represent the heartbeat of the never-never land village. The fabric of the score becomes the fabric of the village – especially during a dance sequence in which a rag-tag but sincere local ensemble plays for the gathering. The score comes to represent the yearning and awakening senses of the “Hero” of the title – flowering into beauty during quiet moments or fluttering behind natural phenomena (like the aurora borealis) – functioning not like pop songs but as an almost natural tapestry of sound and emotion. The end of the film in which our Hero arrives back in Texas always strikes me as heartbreaking. The loud diegetic country music has now been totally replaced by soft, non-diegetic, interior, music -- a soft but yearning synthesizer – as he wanders through his Texas apartment, visits the balcony, and tacks some photos to a bulletin board. The music then flowers into full blown melodic rock as he phones the village – his paradise lost -- the theme music suddenly soaring behind the sound of a telephone box gone unanswered – loudly lamenting as we as viewers are allowed to return to the village which our Hero has been forced to abandon, probably forever.
That is a wonderful analysis & description of the use of music in that film.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Something occurred to me yesterday: we did that vote for Yavar on Goldsmith titles and one of the things on the list was two electronic scores re-done for orchestra by Leigh.
What if there was a fundraiser for someone (not necessarily Leigh, though I'd certainly not be opposed to that) to re-do the score with orchestra?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Posted: |
Sep 25, 2024 - 9:26 AM
|
|
|
|
By: |
Thor
(Member)
|
I like much of Dire Straits and Knopfler's solo albums, but he was never a good film composer, IMO. Lacked some of the dramatic "film" sensibility that is required. It's mostly just him substituting the pop album studio with a film score studio, but not really getting into the film. It's nice Irish-inspired folk music and all, but rarely works in film(s). I haven't seen THE PRINCESS BRIDE, but I had the SCREENPLAYING compilation with some selections. Not bad, but not that exciting either.
What rubbish from a 15 year younger me!
Knopfler is great. Yes, he doesn't have the most complex compositions, but nor does everything have to be. I love his breezy take on things, and have to come to really appreciate his film work too, in the 15 years hence. I regret selling off my SCREENPLAYING CD these days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
