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Review of Hidden Figures (Pharrell Williams/Hans Zimmer/Benjamin Wallfisch)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

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.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

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.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 50:22

• 1. Katherine (2:37) • 2. Mission Control (1:17) • 3. I'd Already Be One (1:08) • 4. Space Task Group (2:56) • 5. Slice of Pie (1:05) • 6. Redacted (1:26) • 7. With All the Angels (1:35) • 8. Redstone (1:36) • 9. Call Your Wives (3:23) • 10. Launch (2:21) • 11. That's Just the Way Things Are (2:25) • 12. Sign (1:11) • 13. Kitchen Kiss (0:55)

• 14. Mary and the Judge (1:30) • 15. I Like Her Numbers (2:07) • 16. Ladies' March (1:25) • 17. Mary and Levi (2:12) • 18. Euler's Method (1:23) • 19. Proposal (1:40) • 20. Pearls (2:41) • 21. Katherine Calculates (1:32) • 22. Lift Off (3:11) • 23. Warning Light (0:59) • 24. Rocket Peril (3:10) • 25. Hidden Figures (3:50) • 26. Epilogue (0:38)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.

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