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Written 3/24/10
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Buy it... if you have always been impressed by the Lebo
M.-influenced portions of The Lion King, in which case The
Power of One is an authentic sibling score of surprisingly defiant
and optimistic character.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear more than just a hint of the
instrumental style of Hans Zimmer in the accompaniment of the South African
vocalists, because this score is dominated by the solemn but hopeful
performances by the latter group.
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| Zimmer |
The Power of One: (Hans Zimmer) You'll be
challenged to find a film as depressing as The Power of One, a
character story about one young white man's life-long struggles to
overcome personal tragedy and fight for equality during the height of
apartheid in South Africa. His friends, family, and inspirations are
nearly all executed in gruesome, violent ways, graphically depicting the
very worst in racist behavior that plagued the country. Director John G.
Avildsen managed to insert some hope into the adaptation of the 1989
novel by emphasizing the toughness of hand to hand combat, an element of
success in his Rocky and The Karate Kid films. The
production was obviously not received well by the South African
government; despite the slow political shift towards open, multi-racial
democratic elections there, The Power of One debuted in 1992, a
couple of years before Nelson Mandela's victory. One of the interesting
byproducts of the displeasure that The Power of One brought upon
members of its crew was the impact that the film had on composer Hans
Zimmer. One scene in the film includes a song with intentionally
subversive lyrics to be performed by prisoners to celebrate the visit of
a ranking official in the prison system. Music plays a much larger role
in The Power of One, from Zimmer's original score to the
traditional choral performances arranged by Lebo M. These
well-coordinated recordings had such an impact on the film as to cause
Zimmer himself to be black-listed in South Africa for having engaged in
subversive filmmaking. In fact, when Zimmer teamed with Lebo M. once
more for The Lion King not long after, the studio insisted that
it wasn't safe for the composer to travel to South Africa again for the
obviously similar recording requirements. Zimmer claims to have had no
personal connection to Africa despite composing no less than half a
dozen scores for serious films involving racial conflict in that
continent. He instead has always been touched by the style of African
music, though he admits that his attempts at representing it through his
scores is more frequently based on Western notions that simply utilize
native colors. His interest in writing for the region extended from a
segment in A World Apart that eventually led to his involvement
in The Power of One, which he considered a satisfying extension
of the same sound. Of course, Zimmer's compelling recording of The
Power of One directly led to his hiring on The Lion King, a
score that continued to explore generally the same choral tones and
thematic structures.
Although Zimmer does utilize his keyboards to provide
depth to some cues (along with a few moments with those gloriously
beautiful woodwind solos akin to
The Lion King), the majority of
the soundscape in
The Power of One is comprised of acoustic
percussion and the choral performances. Zimmer and Lebo M. had busloads
of singers, none of whom could read music, brought to a warehouse in
South Africa to perform lyrics in their native languages for a simple,
two-microphone setup. The result is an extremely wet-sounding
(reverberating) collection of strikingly authentic recordings that blend
seamlessly between the original, source, and traditional compositions.
Likely due to Lebo M.'s arrangements, the vocalizations in
The Power
of One have a distinctly authentic tone, though you can easily hear
Zimmer's typical, soothing progressions as the base for the slightly
improvised singing. Within the choir, there are a significant number of
soloists, highlighted by a female voice that is downright heartbreaking
in several places. The duo of "The Rainmaker" and "Mother Afrika"
appropriately identify the locale and primary character, though the main
theme of
The Power of One exists in the latter, not only reprised
to close the album but translated into a less exuberant version in "Of
Death & Dying." What's striking about the major score pieces by Zimmer
is how upbeat they tend to be; their sense of hope doesn't shake their
roots in tragedy, but the album experience is far brighter than watching
the film. The drum arrays beef up the ambience in "The Rainmaker,"
"Mother Africa (Reprise)," and "Woza Mfana." A singular piece of
interest from Zimmer is "Penny Whistle Song," which is sprightly with
clapping effects and a jaunty rhythm that sounds vaguely similar to some
ideas explored by James Horner at the time. The highlight of the score
is arguably "Of Death & Dying," which happens to be the most somber cue
as well as the most beautiful. The traditional recordings and source
pieces written by David Khabo and performed by the Bulawayo Church Choir
fit well with Zimmer's material, which amounts to over 30 minutes in
length on the rare Elektra album. The composer has never been a big fan
of expanded albums of his own work, though he has expressed an interest
in seeing
The Power of One receive another album treatment (he
remains proud of the score to this day). Unfortunately, the out of print
CD has fetched ridiculous prices on the secondary market, and for
listeners expecting to hear Zimmer music that rests comfortably in his
non-African styles of the time, there may be some disappointment. But it
is an outstanding companion to
The Lion King, the later score's
more authentic sibling.
**** @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.
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