Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #729
Written 11/1/96, Revised 4/9/06
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Buy it... if you are ready for a relentless exercise in intensely
thrilling Bernard Herrmann music, even by his own standards.
Avoid it... in the Elmer Bernstein adaptation if you prefer classic
scores in their original archival sound quality.
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| Bernstein |
Cape Fear: (Bernard Herrmann/Elmer Bernstein) With
his first film after signing a major contract with Universal Studios and
Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, director Martin Scorsese
decided to remake the classic 1962 horror story of Cape Fear. In
the original, Gregory Peck was the lawyer and heroic father figure and
Robert Mitchum was the criminal who had served time because of what he
believed to be a bad defense by Peck. The ensuing battle of nerves and
wit between the Hollywood icons made for a classic film of good versus
evil. But in Scorsese's darker outlook on life, there can't be any true
hero, and in his 1991 remake, everyone from the lawyer to his
16-year-old daughter has demons with which to work. It's more difficult
to root for Nick Nolte in the Peck role, and Robert De Niro is far more
psychotic than Mitchum ever was as the criminal. What Scorsese had going
in his favor was a $35 million budget, cameo roles by both Mitchum and
Peck (ironically on opposite sides of their original allegiances), and
access to the original 1962 score by horror legend Bernard Herrmann. The
desire to use Herrmann's score is no surprise, with the composer's last
score being for Scorsese's Taxi Driver, not to mention the
outstanding success of the music in the original. Whether or not you can
tolerate this usage of Herrmann's music in a modern setting (whether it
is this, or the remake of Psycho several years later) depends on
how awkward it is to hear that trademark Herrmann horror sound, forever
bound to a certain era in Hollywood, inserted into a much more recent
setting. Since Scorsese would be adapting the story of Cape Fear
along unfamiliar lines, he would require someone to adapt Herrmann's
material, and Elmer Bernstein was proud to do the job. While the task
seems elementary on the surface, Bernstein needed to choose where he
could move cues to complementary places in the new film, compose cues
for new sequences, and do all of that without harming the integrity of
Herrmann's highly distinct sound. Regardless of opinions about whether
the music seems out of place in a 1990's film, there's no doubt that
Bernstein successfully accomplished his task.
It will be difficult for any viewer of either film to
forget the blaring trombones in the four-note title of
Cape Fear.
Between these harsh brass tones and the remarkably fluid, wavering
strings that form a rising theme of unease throughout the score,
Herrmann's score is easily distinguishable. A single hit of the
orchestra in the opening cue leads to the alternating woodwinds and
string theme that has so often accompanied the concept of psychosis in
Herrmann's works, and despite the seemingly chaotic fuss created by the
strings throughout this and other cues, there is a hypnotic tonality and
melody that ripples through the score in an atmosphere strikingly
appropriate for a lake or ocean setting. Unlike many other Herrmann
classics,
Cape Fear never allows you to come up for air,
constantly brooding in
Psycho fashion and maintaining an intense
sense of malice regardless of volume. Herrmann collectors will enjoy a
piece of Herrmann's rejected score for
Torn Curtain in "The
Fight," which will stand out compared to the loyalty of the rest of the
work. To Bernstein's credit, it's difficult to differentiate his filler
material from the straight adaptations. Much of this accomplishment is
due to his perfect capture of Herrmann's instrumentation, including the
obvious use of pulsating, muted trumpets. Purists will reject
Bernstein's version of
Cape Fear because of the updated
production quality of the sound, and yet Herrmann's music (highlighted
by
Vertigo in these regards) is served very well by crisp, exact
sound quality. Others may also be inclined to reject Bernstein's
apparent adaptation of a three-note submotif in terrifying opening cue
to the more expansive action sequences in the remake (the original had
far less action). The digital mastering (even though it's from an analog
recording) causes this score to better tickle your nerves and be even
more "in your face," as it should be. For years, the album of
Bernstein's 1991 adaptation was the only available recording for
Cape
Fear. The original 1962 score was released by a Herrmann-specific
label in the late 1990's, but only in mono sound. With that in mind,
Bernstein's adaptation remains the superior product, because you can't
argue with the enhancements that the new recording quality make on the
score.
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