Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,651
Written 3/25/17
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Buy it... if you have often wondered why there aren't more
competent, traditional orchestral scores with soul and gospel
accompaniment, this entry a redemptive delight in achieving that
challenging cultural balance.
Avoid it... if you expect the score to feature consistent stylistic
continuity with the Pharrell Williams songs heard in the film, or if you
demand the tightest of narratives in the score's own thematic
development.
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| Zimmer |
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| Wallfisch |
Hidden Figures: (Pharrell Williams/Hans
Zimmer/Benjamin Wallfisch) One of the more lauded liberal "feel good"
films of the 2010's is Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures, a 2016
adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly's book about female African American
mathematicians and engineers who worked at NASA during the early days of
the space program's mission. While the liberties taken with the facts in
the film's screenplay will be obnoxious to loyalists of the book,
especially with the insertion of Kevin Costner as a white savior,
Hidden Figures is a solid and redemptive look at how these women
played an integral role in computing trajectories and other engineering
feats in the era before and during the introduction of computers. The
movie was a tremendous fiscal success and earned widespread respect for
musician Pharrell Williams, whose dedication to the project was so
significant that he eventually joined it in a producing role. For most
viewers, however, it is Williams' contribution to the soundtrack that is
most important, and he provided several songs of an early 1960's vibe
that he professed to have been working on for a long time before his
involvement in this film. Certainly, Hidden Figures makes use of
these and a whole slew of other source songs in its mix, but Williams
turned to familiar collaborators when it came time to bridge these
placements with an original score. He had been enveloped by Hans
Zimmer's Remote Control blob years earlier with Despicable Me
and, more formally, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and upon becoming
involved with this project, Zimmer brought in another relative newcomer
from his ghostwriter stock, Benjamin Wallfisch, who had contributed
additional music to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Fortunately, all three men receive equal credit on posters and album
covers after their "jam session" methodology; while Zimmer is listed
first, Williams reportedly handled the bulk of the duties. Zimmer's
publicity machine repeatedly stated that most films about the early
space program utilized noble, Aaron Copland-like Americana music,
perhaps in reference to James Horner's lasting influence on the genre
since Apollo 13, and it was the composing team's intent to avoid
that sound outright. Rather, they sought to take that general
expectation and deliver it wrapped in the personality of soul and
gospel, and the decision is largely a success. There are very few high
profile film scores that make satisfactory use of these inclinations
with the standard orchestral backdrop, and this one clicks.
For
Hidden Figures, Williams insisted that as
many African American orchestral players be assembled as possible for
the recording, led by the legendary Herbie Hancock on piano. It's
difficult to say if having such a diverse string section, for instance,
makes any difference in the end result, for it's the composition and the
soloists and accompanying vocalists that make the most stylistic impact.
The score definitely exudes that cultural personality, foregoing the
Zimmer machine's usual bass-heavy, droning mix and breathing refreshing
life into the sometimes pizzazz-filled recording. The ambience of the
score is flighty, the piano and strings joined by high female choir to
yield an appropriately ethereal tone. The lower reaches are often
handled by electric bass, though many cues are lacking much depth down
there at all. Expect the piano to be somewhat subdued in its role;
Williams instead infuses the vocals and other instrumental soloists with
the more obvious cultural tones. While the composing team tried to move
away from conventions, there are still Horner fingerprints on this work,
most notably in the use of choir and rambling piano to handle the
computational motif, as heard in "I Like Her Numbers" and "Euler's
Method." An optimistic piano theme is summarized in "Katherine,"
conveyed nicely in "Lift Off" and closing out "Hidden Figures." The main
theme is a rising and falling identity fully introduced on album early
in "I'd Already be One" and developed extensively until its catharsis
using the full ensemble at the outset of "Hidden Figures." The space
program is afforded innocuous otherworldly electronic effects that build
to a more Zimmer cello-friendly theme heard at 0:49 into "Launch," using
melodramatic, weighty minor-third progressions underneath solo gospel
vocals to great effect. This idea is reprised late in "Rocket Peril." A
little more "Zimmeresque" are the
Da Vinci Code-like chords of
"Katherine Calculates." Meanwhile, Williams' influence shines at moments
like the celebration motif heard in "Call Your Wives" and "Ladies'
March." While the character of the score remains cohesive outside of
this celebration motif, the themes, oddly enough, are only faintly
coherent, and they make no obvious connections to the songs. The various
motifs seem to waft through the score seemingly without tightly
associating with particular characters. Thus, you have a combined
compositional effort involving Zimmer that continues to cause some
issues with narrative continuity, but
Hidden Figures manages to
overcome these issues with its tightly knit cultural personality. A
separate, score-only album for the soundtrack is highly recommended;
it's a delightfully competent handling of the subject despite its
sometimes wandering motific assignments.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.85
(in 128 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.96
(in 299,193 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For Benjamin Wallfisch reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.36
(in 14 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.18
(in 3,490 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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