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| CD Reviews: A Very Long Engagement and The Grudge |
| Posted By: Luke Goljan on May 1, 2005 - 10:00 PM |
CD Reviews: A Very Long Engagement and The Grudge
A Very Long Engagement *** 1/2
ANGELO BADALAMENTI
Nonesuch 79880-2
13 tracks - 47:32
Angelo Badalamenti will forever be associated with director David
Lynch. When the composer does score non-Lynch films, they are usually
set in similarly dark, quirky or demented worlds, as in Secretary or Auto Focus. It was thus a nice
surprise to see his name attached to a romantic epic directed by
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who made a splash a few seasons ago with Amelie. A Very Long Engagement reunites
Jeunet with his City of Lost Children
composer. Engagement is an
ambitious, beautiful film, and Badalamenti rises to the challenge with
one of the most stirring scores of 2004.
The movie, based on the novel by Sébastien Japrisot, follows the
lovely Audrey Tautou as Matilde, who's fiancé is sent to war in
1917 and has supposedly died. The rest of the movie follows Matilde and
her search for this man who she insists is still alive. Similar in
theme and situation to last year's Cold
Mountain, the film is simply about hanging onto love in the face
of war.
As I listened to the first track of the CD, the first name that popped
into my head was Ennio Morricone, followed by a dash of Gabriel Yared.
Incorporating a full orchestra, Badalamenti paints on a wide and
emotional canvas. "Main Titles/The Trenches" is an especially
heartbreaking elegy to war. The next cue, "First Love Touch,"
introduces the haunting love theme of Matilde, which dominates the
score. But the cue that surprised me the most was "Kissing Through
Glass," the most unabashedly romantic piece in the movie.
Yes, the music may have at times been over the top against picture, and
it may seem repetitive on the CD, but I have to applaud Jeunet for
trusting Badalamenti with such an important movie. On a purely
emotional level, the composer succeeds with flying
colors. -- CW
The Grudge *** 1/2
CHRISTOPHER YOUNG
Varèse Sarabande 302 066 623 2
8 tracks - 42:29
The Grudge proves without a
doubt that Christopher Young feels perfectly at home writing for both
faces of horror, the tongue in cheek, and the legitimately scary. There
are no stingers, surprising considering Young's stingers seem to get
ripped off left and right; rather the music ebbs and flows with dark
strings that saw ferociously when danger is imminent. Foreboding
percussion takes the place of Young's usually deliciously over-the-top
action writing. It would be easy to go too far with music like this and
turn it into a noisy mess or lean too heavily on synths, but Young
blends everything together so deftly that it becomes a dreamlike swirl.
The one negative aspect to the score is that it's obvious what was
playing in the editing room before Young came onboard. If you add one
part Suspiria-like main
theme, one part bellowing drums, mix in some sawing strings, and serve
it up to an audience unfamiliar with the fact that the "ghost with hair
in front of its face" is a Japanese horror staple... well, then there's
a good chance someone will bring up The
Ring. But Young surpasses Zimmer's effort (notably by not
mimicking the Suspiria theme
identically, a major weak point of Zimmer's score) and creates an
organic atmosphere that breathes and pulses. This is the sound of
dread, a territory that seems to be inhabited exclusively by
Christopher Young. He's not breaking any new ground, but he's proving
that 20 years after he wrote his first horror score he's still at the
top of his game. -- Luke Goljan
MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com
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Today in Film Score History:
April 23 |
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| Alain Jomy born (1941) |
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| Andre Previn begins recording his score for The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) |
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| Arthur B. Rubinstein died (2018) |
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| Bernard Herrmann begins recording his North by Northwest score (1959) |
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| Christopher Komeda died (1969) |
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| Harold Arlen died (1986) |
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| Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson born (1958) |
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| James Horner begins recording his score for House of Cards (1992) |
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| Jay Gruska born (1952) |
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| Jonsi born (1975) |
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| Kenji Kawai born (1957) |
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| Louis Barron born (1920) |
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| Patrick Williams born (1939) |
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| Robert Farnon died (2005) |
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| Satyajit Ray died (1992) |
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| Sergei Prokofiev born (1891) |
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