| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Dolores Claiborne (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if feelings of disillusionment in your film scores never
yield boredom for you, for this music is effectively troubling in its
morbidly deliberate meandering and unappealing instrumental demeanor.
Avoid it... if you need more than just a drab sibling to Danny Elfman's engaging melodrama for Sommersby to justify a listening experience that offers little relief from its solemn contemplation.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Dolores Claiborne: (Danny Elfman) Based upon
Stephen King's best-selling novel of 1992, Dolores Claiborne is a
straight forward domestic abuse drama that features practically none of
the author's usual supernatural elements. The 1995 adaptation stars
Kathy Bates as a maid to a wealthy New England family, a quietly
desperate woman beaten physically and emotionally by her excessively
drinking, molesting husband. In flashback format, she is revealed to
have been encouraged by the woman of the upscale home to kill her
husband via a convenient accident, which she eventually managed to
accomplish during an eclipse. When she is blamed for the later death of
her employer as well, she is forced to elude prosecution from
Christopher Plummer's detective and come to terms with her estranged
daughter. It's a movie about sexual abuse, vengeful feminism, and
repressed memories, with the violent portions of the tale pitching the
story towards the horror genre. Although satisfyingly bittersweet in its
conclusion, Dolores Claiborne is by no means an easy viewing
experience, the convincing performances by Bates, Plummer, and David
Straithairn (as the husband) serving as the main attraction. The coastal
Maine scenery (with Canada standing in), as well as the interior design
of the film, is made to de-emphasize vitality, intentionally sapping
much of the beauty inherent to the area in an attempt to accentuate the
disgust and distrust between the principle players. Also contributing to
bleak atmosphere and psychological terror of Dolores Claiborne is
Danny Elfman's somewhat uncharacteristically drab orchestral score, the
muted and troubled demeanor of his contribution matching the lack of
identity and dulled color palette of the tale and its scenery. It's a
work of extreme introspection that is met with either indifference or
admiration by the composer's collectors, the music functioning better as
an emphasis of the dichotomy between present and past on screen than as
an appreciable standalone listening experience.
The still-ascendant Elfman went through a period in the middle to late 1990's during which he sought to shake the gothic fantasy mould that had defined his early orchestral career, and he thus seemed enamored with character dramas of a morbidly downbeat nature, highlighted by his early and classic score for Sommersby. In terms of its orchestral techniques and depressing mood, Dolores Claiborne is the lesser sibling to that 1993 work, absent any of the specialty instruments for location or a harmonious, melodramatic set of thematic structures. Elfman's music in the film is largely restrained, with the exception of a few exceedingly violent interactions between the maid and her husband, a tool of subtlety to mark distinctions between the two time periods. All of the creativity in wacky rhythmic and instrumental usage by Elfman is completely drained from Dolores Claiborne, leaving it an exceedingly somber accompaniment that produces its own set of challenges when attempting to define its identity. It is a score well respected by Elfman collectors for its integrity of spirit, consistency in disillusionment, interesting spanning of extreme tones at the outer edges of the treble and bass, and intelligent employment of strings, harp, and piano, but it, much like Extreme Measures the next year, nevertheless remains one of the composer's more difficult and potentially unappealing album presentations.The foundation for Dolores Claiborne is a weighty string section of the orchestra, with long lines explored by seemingly directionless players. (In reality, that are actually following simple, very elongated thematic progressions). Skittish violin accents true to Elfman's slightly more eccentric tendencies exist throughout the score as well, highlighting "Vera's World." Deep piano and timpani hits ground the score in the bass while brass only provides depth in long, often incongruous counterpoint roles. Occasional woodwind solos attempt to offer some warmth to the relationships in the picture but usually fail. Elfman's usual light choral touch punctuates the few moments of victory for the maid, eerily mystical during the conclusion of the "Eclipse" scene and settling the heart with a sense of resolution in "End Credits." There is a primary theme for Dolores Claiborne, established in "Main Title" and a defining factor thereafter, though it takes so long for its deliberate progressions to unfold that listeners will have significant difficulty recalling it after the score has finished. This decision by Elfman was surely intentional, as it takes the entire picture for the audience to truly know and trust the characters. Not helping the melody is Elfman's tendency to reinforce his unsetting atmosphere by inserting occasional notes well outside of the already strained tonality of the theme. There are a few moments of outright dissonance or atonal force in the score, a few exploding with excessive volume, but there is a perpetual sense of unease that results from Elfman's frequent layering of slightly incongruous lines. Easier to remember from the score is a rising and falling four-note sequence usually performed on piano that extends out of the main theme and is applied as its own motif. An octave-spanning motif for piano and plucked strings contributes a touch of intrigue. Only in two scenes in the film does Elfman's score really assert itself in the mix, and, as mentioned before, both involve the domestic violence between the maid and her husband. The sudden burst of anger in "Getting Even," an incomplete version of which provided on the initial album, keenly balances tumultuous bass string rhythms and pounding piano with delicate chimes of music box tone. In "Eclipse," Elfman finally offers brass an interesting performance, allowing it to follow an almost Nightbreed-like chase sequence with rapping and tapping percussion and blurting a prominent, seemingly distorted set of figures. These two scenes are aided significantly by these cues in the film, though the rest of the score tends to wash away in the background of the many quiet dialogue scenes. It has been noted that international dubs of the film drastically increased the volume of Elfman's score, almost to distracting levels. The 1995 album from Varèse Sarabande offered a scant 30 minutes of music out of film order, but the label eventually atoned with a limited, 2-CD expansion in 2020 that includes the bulk of the score with three alternate takes. Expect this oppressive presentation to fill some voids in the narrative but challenge your patience with redundancy. The "End Credits" cue remains a strong suite representing the work. On either product, you have to respect Elfman's careful approach to Dolores Claiborne, but the experience could either bore or depress you with little reward.
TRACK LISTINGS:
1995 Varèse Album:
Total Time: 30:11
2020 Varèse Album: Total Time: 89:56
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1995 Varèse album includes no extra information
about the score or film. That of the 2020 product contains extensive details
about both.
Copyright ©
2010-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Dolores Claiborne are Copyright © 1995, 2020, Varèse Sarabande, Varèse Sarabande (Deluxe Edition) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 3/15/10 and last updated 4/11/21. |
