Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,779
Written 7/6/11
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Buy it... if you seek five minutes of music that reprises
"CheValiers de Sangreal" from The Da Vinci Code and little more
of substantive value.
Avoid it... if you mistakenly believe that Hans Zimmer actually
wrote most of this underachieving, uncoordinated, and generic period
score simply because his name is misleadingly listed first on the
album's packaging.
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| Jackman |
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| Zimmer |
Henri 4: (Henry Jackman/Hans Zimmer) When in doubt,
add more explosive sex scenes. That was seemingly the directive of
choice for Jo Baier's biographical movie about France's Henry of
Navarre. The script for Henri 4 was based upon two novels about
the French king's years preceding the throne, including the bloody
warfare between Catholics and Protestants that was so fierce that it
even invaded his own wedding. Plenty of religious killings throughout
the film are balanced by interludes of tense court gamesmanship and a
multitude of raunchy sex scenes with plenty of nudity to keep the room
entertained. Since Henri 4 was initially conceived as a two-part
television picture, its bloated length caused trouble for many critics,
most of whom predicted the doom that the movie did indeed experience.
Although it was financed by several European nations, its only wide
release came in Germany in early 2010, after which it breezed in and out
of arthouse theatres around the world during the following year. To
compensate for its adequate but underwhelming prowess in the technical
departments, Henri 4 needed a score of significant oomph to
propel the future king through treacherous circumstances to fulfill his
destiny. Who better to turn to than Hans Zimmer for such a topic from
German hands? Well, actually, when you hire Zimmer for your
less-than-mainstream projects these days, you actually will be sent one
of his many Remote Control minions, and you might get a theme from the
overlord of that studio if you're lucky. Such was seemingly the case
with Henri 4, which ultimately received a score from regular
Zimmer associate Henry Jackman but apparently contained enough bars of
music from Zimmer to allow the advertising and merchandising for the
product to use the more famous name more prominently. What few
international reviews exist for Henri 4 do mention the music, but
they typically describe it as overbearing or simplistic. Not
surprisingly, they're referring to a generic Remote Control score that
does little than toil in the background for much of its length and only
occasionally burst forth with standard ominous string figures and
brooding, melodramatic bass-dwelling tonality for scenes of amplified
glory. There is speculation that Zimmer didn't actually write, arrange,
and recording anything himself for Henri 4, though the opening
and closing cues would suggest that he at least stopped by briefly
enough to throw a bone to fans of The Da Vinci Code.
Unfortunately, the remainder by Jackman completely loses any sense of
narrative development, handling each scene with various tones
appropriate to the 16th Century but sometimes inserting bland synthetic
filler for no good reason other than cost and time.
For a film of such length, it's surprising that Jackman
didn't manage to coordinate a better enunciated thematic arc in the
score. The only truly effective connection made in
Henri 4 is "A
Destiny Revealed" at the start and the appropriate expansion of the idea
in "A Prophecy Fulfilled" at the end, and, aside from some tepid
references throughout the meat of the score by Jackman, these bookends
are where this, the only memorable theme, comes into play. Most likely
Zimmer's token contribution, the theme is a propulsive series of the
composer's trademark melodramatic progressions over sharp cello
ostinatos, extremely reminiscent of "CheValiers de Sangreal" and highly
palatable. The remainder is a meandering mess, made more challenging on
the album presentation by the inclusion of Jordi Savall's original
compositions that serve as the official source music for
Henri 4
(highlighted by the standard liturgical material for choir). Seemingly
every folder in the directory of the Remote Control playlist is visited
at some point in this score, sometimes to good effect but usually not.
Among the highlights are three cues making interesting use of solo
voices. In "A Destiny Revealed," "The Wedding," and "Rosny's
Confession," sighing female vocals give stature and allure despite their
stereotypical insertion. Some of Jackman's attempts to address the 16th
Century begin to show life, especially in "Freedom Regained," though
percussive use to this end is usually understated in the rest of the
score. Several cues rely significantly upon synthetic accentuation of
the orchestral tones, and these portions are simply insufferable. From
"The Louvre" to "Henri's Escape," Jackman's synthetic insertions are
surprisingly poorly rendered, the latter cue not only grating in this
regard but also inserting some Celtic-like rhythmic spirit and dissolves
into standard
Pirates of the Caribbean-style frolicking that is
blatantly out of place. The conniving comedy cue "Marie de Medici" is a
plucky diversion along similar lines. The lighter romantic cues return
to the domain of the acoustic guitar, but at least in a cue such as
"Gabrielle D'Estrees," Jackman rotates between compelling woodwind solos
in performances of the "CheValiers de Sangreal"-inspired theme. A few
solo string performances are notable as well, as in the reprise of the
score's opening vocal motif in "Let Reason Rule." The remainder of the
score is remarkably dull, however, and even Zimmer's collectors may fail
to feel inclined to add this entry to their significant collections of
the composer's works. The amount of compelling material in
Henri
4 is limited to roughly ten minutes and seems on the surface to be
rather lazy in its coordination. Fill your Remote Control compilations
with "A Prophecy Fulfilled" and discard the rest of this disappointingly
vacuous effort.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Henry Jackman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.8
(in 25 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.79
(in 7,747 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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