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.
This is the most laid back and relaxing Morricone I know. The technique used here originated in the theme to a Spaghetti western IL GRANDE SILENCIO but for some reason I always felt it worked slightly better on a tropical island than in a snowbound wintry western setting:
This film was directed by Folco Quilici who did SHIP HUNTERS and his beautiful imagery of the sea again inspires Morricone to new heights. This time exotic and sultry. This was a semi-documentary about a young Polynesian native boy who set sail in his outrigger canoe to find his ideal island. The vistas seen are positively unreal. This film won Quilici a special David di Donatello award (the Italian Oscar) for directing. Morricone's music is extremely simple and lowkey. And the emphasis is on beautiful island splendor. Even the dissonance that shows up when there is some danger is really nice because it is done with exotic instruments, absolutely nothing harsh. And a score (how many times have you heard me say this) totally unique in Morricone's career except for that aforementioned main theme. Thor, this is drop dead calm and relaxing film scoring!
An absolute masterpiece, a wonderful ethnic study in the Morricone's way. I love two cues particularly: il vento è il vento e soffia dove vuole, il sole è il sole e brucia ciò che vuole.
Amazing sea-movie too. Surely Quilici at his best.
Absolutely a masterpiece! A certain similarity to "Il Grande Silenzio" (that is as well wonderful" like you say. But this one is a more relaxing score.
Thanks for your posts, extremely useful and informative.
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Mr. American Nightmare is a librarian/drummer? Shhhhhhhh!
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Mr. American Nightmare is a librarian/drummer? Shhhhhhhh!
Very cool
He can also bust out on the Congas...but you didn't hear it from me!
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Mr. American Nightmare is a librarian/drummer? Shhhhhhhh!
Very cool
He can also bust out on the Congas...but you didn't hear it from me!
An absolute masterpiece, a wonderful ethnic study in the Morricone's way. I love two cues particularly: il vento è il vento e soffia dove vuole, il sole è il sole e brucia ciò che vuole.
Amazing sea-movie too. Surely Quilici at his best.
The first 5 minute version of "il vento è il vento e soffia dove vuole" in particular where there seems to be a number of instruments playing a mild cacophany of tunes then all of a sudden, in the middle, the main theme begins playing utilizing those instruments we heard. It is like the instruments were tuning up or looking for the right notes then they found them and came together harmoniously. In may have seemed a simple idea to Morricone but to me it's execution is amazing!
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Mr. American Nightmare is a librarian/drummer? Shhhhhhhh!
Very cool
He can also bust out on the Congas...but you didn't hear it from me!
Thanks for the reminder, Henry. I've been meaning to pick up OCEANO for ages, but somewhere along the way it fell off my SAE wish list and I forgot about it. That sample clip is just gorgeous. Being a drummer/percussionist myself, I especially dig Morricone's use of percussion when he's in exotic tropical island mode. His score for THE ISLAND (1980) is another example, but on the extreme opposite end of the emotional scale. Thank goodness I picked that one up from Varese before it sold out. I think I'll give it a spin right now.
Mr. American Nightmare is a librarian/drummer? Shhhhhhhh!
Very cool
He can also bust out on the Congas...but you didn't hear it from me!
So what do you do while he is playing?
I perform my Rain dance (^_^)
Sounds like something worth going to San Diego to see
I've known the Main Title for a long time - it's track 6 on side A of one of those vinyl compilation albums I got back in the late 70s or early 80s. Initially I was disappointed with the score (partnered with L'Avventuriero on the RCA label) since I found some (a lot?) of it too dissonant, especilaly when compared with the beautiful main theme.
But over time it has grown on me and I attribute this largely to my widening tastes (helped by my collection of EM scores) and better hi-fi: as with many scores (and music generally) I find previously inaccessible or difficult music has become much more enjoyable now that I can hear the instruments.
That said, I haven't opted for the expanded release (I see that the extra tracks are alternate takes) but I won't rule out getting it.
For the record there are only maybe 5 cues that are what I call the problematic dissonance that might irritate.
I wonder who might get upset by these five pieces. Cues like "Le maschere morte" are 100% enjoyable and not at all a challenge for used-to-easy-melodies ears.
