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Home Alone: (John Williams) This highly popular and likely
overrated children's story written by John Hughes and shot by Chris Columbus tests
every limit of plausibility. By the end of
Home Alone, any adult who has
raised a child will wonder if an 8-year-old with the wit and composure of Macaulay
Culkin's character actually exists. In the film, he plays a boy mistakenly left at
his home in the Chicago suburbs while his frantic family packs and departs for
Paris, and in the time it takes for the neglectful family to realize their error and
return home, the boy comically foils a pair of burglars who attempt to invade the
home. The depictions of violence are as ridiculously dumb and unbelievable as they
could possibly be, and the film attempts to redeem itself with a solid message of
Holiday forgiveness. It had been a while since John Williams had composed a score
specifically aimed at children (if ever, really) and when he accepted the assignment
of
Home Alone from Columbus, a close friend, it proved to be an entirely new
genre for the maestro to tackle. Not only were the ramifications exciting for
Williams' fans, but the composer approached the project with a refreshing new
enthusiasm that carried over into the tone of his composition. After a year which
included the dramatic, often tense scores for
Presumed Innocent,
Stanley &
Iris, and
Always, Williams shed all of that weight and provided what
essentially amounts to a perfect comedic Christmas score. Ever since
Home
Alone first won the hearts of audiences with an outstanding record-shattering
showing at the box office, Williams' score has existed among the highest standards
for Christmas-related music from Hollywood. The score and its original title song
would be nominated for two Academy Awards, and the film cleverly combines the score
with traditional but refreshed Christmas carol recordings as well as a few original
carols written by Williams himself.
Home Alone is an example of a film and
score fitting like a perfect glove for a hand, with Williams' music successfully
balancing the two sides of the film: the wacky, stupid comedy, and the heartfelt
sense of family and religion at the holidays. Williams' own carols are very strong,
proving, at the very least, that the composer is among the best classically-inclined
artists of our time. His recordings of traditional carols also maintain a hearty
holiday swing, and it's difficult to imagine how Williams could have accomplished
all of this during the warm summertime of the film's post-production.
While critics may claim that the Oscar-nominated title song,
"Somewhere in my Memory" is a piece of fluff, it's important to recognize that the
spirit of the carol is precisely what makes it effective (the complete opposite to,
for instance, the lack of spirit which would sink Williams'
Sabrina score a
few years later). The underscore is deceptive as well. Seemingly less sophisticated
than Williams' larger dramatic efforts, the choice of instrumentation is what makes
Home Alone a great success. Williams spared no expense in assembling every
tingling instrument he could find, from chimes and bells to synthesized high-octave
organ effects. At every moment in the score, a tingling effect is to be heard, and
if you thought that inspiration from "Jingle Bells" was below Williams' standards,
think again. Slower performances of the major carols are provided with grand
orchestral sweeps and lyrical passages from the various songs. Williams also throws
in a classical joust to represent the manic chaos of the parents; during airport
scenes, Williams utilizes a neo-classical explosion of the orchestra that has a
uniquely Western adventure feel to its rhythms. For the two bumbling criminals in
the story, Williams makes perhaps his most subtle, but effective choice. Instead of
providing an ominous theme with one of the more powerful elements of the orchestra,
the villains are accompanied only by woodwinds, an unexpected, but strangely
appropriate choice for the idiots that these characters are. The dual performances
of a bass bassoon with a clarinet or oboe keep the theme low and mysterious while
allowing the flexibility to toy with their quirky personalities. That way, they are
never quite that scary to kids in the audience, and Williams can sustain a fluffy
atmosphere for even the film's darkest moments. Such usage by Williams dates back to
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (and before, to a lesser extent), but the bass
woodwinds were never meant to achieve the same suspense here. A standout cue is
"Setting the Trap," with a brief, but enjoyable addition of a synthesized rhythm
to the otherwise orchestral performances of several themes from the film. Overall, the
Home Alone score is a Christmas bonanza. Unfortunately, attempting to enjoy
this music anytime during the rest of the year is a challenge, and on album, the
score is so well articulated and presented that it's a seasonal event. Despite this
inherent weakness, this franchise opener is far more impressive than the rehashed
sequel music from Williams for
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (and both are
far, far better than the substandard music produced by Nick Glennie-Smith for
Home Alone 3). Just make sure there's snow on the ground outside before
trying to absorb the full magic of Williams' work for
Home Alone.
****
| Bias Check: | For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.72 (in 63 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.67
(in 299,177 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The sparse insert includes no extra information about the score or
film.
