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Review of Swept from the Sea (John Barry)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you simply can't get enough of John Barry's
repetitive, predictable, and elongated romance writing from the 80's and
90's.
Avoid it... if you're the type to celebrate the fact that this would be Barry's final venture into full-scale romance writing.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Swept from the Sea: (John Barry) One of the more
complete failures of 1997 was Beeban Kidron's adaptation of Joseph
Conrad short story of "Amy Foster." While there was never anything
inherently wrong with the original story, the poor screenplay by Tim
Willocks and uninspired acting by a lesser-known ensemble (at the time)
doomed the film to immediate and thorough lashings by critics. An overly
long and boring portrayal moved awkwardly through time shifts and
unnecessary narration, squeezing the story for every last drop of
tragedy possible. Also dissatisfying is the mishandling of the
homosexual tones present in the story, badly addressed by the doctor's
character in the film. That doctor narrates as a Russian peasant washes
up on Cornish Coast of England and, without any assistance of language,
strikes up a loving relationship with a local young woman who has been
considered an outcast and/or retarded by her community. The man's
inevitable death and the doctor's admiration for the man's physique
(thus causing the unresolved issues of homosexuality in the story) seem
to drag on forever... a trait also common with many of the film scores
of John Barry in the late 1990's. At the time, Barry was having greater
difficulty finding work, and between his own inability to write diverse
music, his legal battles over James Bond music, and the usual trials of
failing health, the composer found himself with few projects for which
to write. In fact, after writing two heavily dramatic efforts in 1995
and being inactive in 1996, Barry's work for Swept from the Sea
in 1997 would mark an end to his lush romance writing and largely signal
the coda of his career. Barry never seemed to be able to muster one or
two great final scores to announce his retirement; Elmer Bernstein, who
was slowing down at precisely the same time, would take a graceful bow
after Hoodlum and, with certainty, Far From Heaven.
Unfortunately, Barry wasn't able to secure the kind of flourishing,
mainstream assignment to go out with a flash (unless you considered
The Scarlet Letter that opportunity in 1995), and the redundancy
of his own output forced him into retirement.
For even the casual collector of John Barry's music, Swept from the Sea will strike you as unsatisfyingly familiar at every turn. It truly is the evidence proving that Barry couldn't infuse his music with any kind of life in his late years (despite whatever hope The Specialist could provide). The chamber orchestra employed for the score does an adequate job of handling Barry's typical progressions, though without the overwhelming force of a larger group, the product can't win your interest with the size of the harmony alone. As such, you're left with the same structures and harmonic resonance as in a dozen Barry scores from before. The pacing is extraordinarily slow, the movements are predictable, and the themes all begin to merge after a while. You can literally predict the next passage in this score as you're listening. As long as Barry insists on providing his cues in full concert suite structure, repeating each bar or section at least twice, he has no hope but to put you to sleep. To his credit, he does offer several themes in Swept from the Sea. He opens and closes with an overarching main title, introduces a theme for the sea that largely represents the Russian, and expands upon a romance theme in "Yanko Asks Amy Out." The romance theme is a slight elevation in pace and attitude compared to the drab sensibilities in the other themes, though it still has little vitality with which to convince you that there is genuine happiness at any point in the story. Unlike My Life, where the innocence of the rhythmic synthesizer cues is a convincing element, Swept from the Sea has absolutely no such element. The only specialty cue is "Yanko's Dance," with an annoying cymbalom performance that seemingly increases in volume as it tears through the peace. This cue can't even put a smile on your face like the similarly quirky dance cues in Chaplin. Only two other things set this score apart from Barry's own stereotypes, and neither is particularly new. An eerie female voice (also used in The Specialist) is used as effective counterpoint in "Sea of Death" and "Yanko About to Die." More of this usage might have greatly elevated the score. The vocal performance of the title theme at the end is a faint reminder of Barry's glory days on the Bond franchise, but despite the clarity and resonance of the young woman's voice, the song's hopelessly drab undercurrent ultimately holds it back. All of that said, Swept from the Sea is still a beautiful score in and of itself. It would simply be nicer if were beautiful in a different way. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 62:00
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a lengthy note from the director and the following words
from John Barry:
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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 Swept from the Sea are Copyright © 1997, Decca Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/1/97 and last updated 12/16/06. |
