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Jun
24
The world of film music, like many other things, has greatly changed. The days when masters like Ennio Morricone, Elmer Bernstein or Henry Mancini would craft musical documents so mighty they could either stand apart, or support cinematic presentations, have been supplanted by singles-laden releases aimed at generating radio airplay and cross-media promotion.
A prime example is the new release Music From The Motion Picture – I Love You Beth Cooper (Twentieth Century Fox) that co-stars Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter and Lauren London. Rather than being a seamless piece with linked compositions, it’s a set of 15 songs, each designed to provide ambience and foundation for particular scenes rather than the entire movie.
Many songs are good, and some (Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin,” Foreigner’s “Feels Like The First Time,” Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out”) are excellent. There’s also a healthy amount of contemorary material from such bands as The Hives, Gym Class Heroes, Ok Go, Violet Columbus and The Perishers.
But what’s missing is the sense of scope and spectacle you’d get from a soundtrack like The Magnificent Seven or the original Pink Panther scores. Those were elegant, sophisticated and intriguing soundtracks, with tunes that had enough character to make the projects best-sellers as albums. But they were also very much a part of the entire film process.
Music From The Motion Picture – I Love You Beth Cooper is more a marketing tool, one that communicates a sense of the storyline, but functions more as a grab-bag sampler than a distinct project.
Much closer to the classic film music concept is Elliot Goldenthal’s Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Public Enemies (Decca). Goldenthal has composed several ’30s-style swing and pre-rock pop pieces, some of them ( “Drive To Bohemia,” “Plane To Chicago” and “JD Dies”) which accurately reflect the era’s sensibility.
In addition, he’s blended his works with first-rate originals and period classics performed by Billie Holiday (“The Man I Love,” “Love Me Or Leave Me”), Blind Willie Johnson (the chilling “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground”) and Diana Krall (“Bye Bye Blackbird”). Plus Otis Taylor supplies gritty numbers “Ten Million Slaves” and “Nasty Letter,” while the Bruce Fowler Band and Indian Bottom Association Old Regular Baptists are other contributors.
Although this one isn’t quite in the Mancini or Morricone class either, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack – Public Enemies has plenty of memorable songs and performances.
Dario Marianelli’s Music From The Motion Picture – The Soloist (Decca) comes closest to being an old-school soundtrack for two reasons. One is the brilliant work of Esa-Pekka Salonen, whose amazing playing invokes the personality of the tormented virtuoso played by Jamie Foxx.
The other reason it works so well concerns arrangements and production. The Los Angeles Philharmonic sounds splendid and evocative, and they’ve been smartly balanced to not overwhelm individual spotlight selections, yet also provide sweeping, incomparable orchestral sound at key moments.
The Soloist depends so much on interaction and charisma, and both Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. are exceptional in their roles as gifted, schizophrenic musician and cynical, concerned journalist. Marianelli’s score shows how the beauty and power of a strong score can elevate a good film, and enhance a great one.
Despite their flaws, this trio of soudtracks may be about as good as it gets this year. Film scoring is becoming a lost art, and it’s difficult to tell whether a new generation of Morricone’s, Mancini’s, and Bernstein’s is coming down the pike.
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