: (Alexandre Desplat) As part of the modern
renaissance of political corruption thrillers that is starting to seem
awfully reminiscent of a similar emphasis in 1970's cinema,
takes a broad look at the hopelessly corrupted
international oil industry. The film, based on the book by Robert Baer,
was directed and written by Stephen Gaghan, who won an Oscar for his
screenplay for
. It's another "hyperlinked" film that uses
the style of establishing characters and storylines spread across the
entire planet and slowly connecting all of them together as the film
progresses. The smarts of the story has generated a somewhat positive
response from critics and moviegoers, though as polarizing a topic as
remains, it's difficult to expect unanimously positive
reviews in light of the intelligently glum viewpoint of the picture.
Given that Stephen Gaghan's
was similarly rendered and
themed, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see sound design composer
Cliff Martinez return to score
. But Gaghan turned to
French composer Alexandre Desplat because, in his words, "I realized
this guy has the crossover dribble; he can play the outside and he can
play in the paint." That statement could mean any one of several things,
including something quite perverted (not to be mentioned here), but you
can get the general sense that Gaghan was interested in the diversity of
Desplat's genre-bending talents.
2005 has been a breakthrough year for Desplat, who had
scored over 60 films in his native France before announcing himself in
Hollywood a few years ago with
Girl with a Pearl Earring. With
seven 2005 films featuring Desplat music,
Syriana joins
Hostage as the most widely recognized. But unlike the
sensibilities of his previous American works,
Syriana ironically
takes Desplat along a musical road that sounds much more like Cliff
Martinez's ambient sound design than his own orchestral structures. And
despite an ensemble appropriate for this kind of sobering thriller,
Desplat's music fails to muster any kind of genuine suspense or
intrigue. The ensemble consists of a small string and percussion
orchestra, with notable soloists on the duduk, ney, piano, and cello.
Also present in nearly every cue is an electric bass or other synthetic
element. The key word is "somber," which could be very easily combined
with "dazed" to describe Desplat's work here. Muted, beaten, and
understated, the score for
Syriana is surprisingly devoid of any
self-defining character because it lacks the sort of edge that a film
like
Syriana promises. Desplat's title theme is held closely to
the vest, performed with heavy restraint by piano and only clearly
evident in an extended sequence for the whole ensemble in the concluding
"Fathers and Sons" cue. The album offers the more interesting ideas near
its opening, with "Driving in Geneva" presenting the most active
rhythmic cue on album.
In "Driving in Geneva," quickly but quietly alternating
strings are joined by the electric bass to create a canvas of slight
urgency despite the significantly slower, more mellow piano solo on top
of that canvas. The rhythms would proceed to define the score best, with
their very slight presence nearly always meandering in the background,
sometimes alone. The geography is played well by Desplat in
Syriana, with the duduk offered in a far more authentic manner
than typically heard in American scores nowadays. But like the solo ney
and cello performances, a very subtle mix is used to incorporate those
performances. In many cases, the most intriguing elements of
Syriana are unfortunately undermixed, creating that dazed and
heavily sedated effect on the score. Thus, as a background listening
experience,
Syriana is difficult to appreciate, and as an
accompaniment to the film, the score's lack of true suspense would seem
curious. Given Desplat's use of a solo child's voice in
Hostage,
a poignant use at the very least, it's difficult to understand how the
solo uses in
Syriana are so mistreated. Perhaps the delicate
balance between high drama and serious restraint was simply skewed badly
towards the latter, because
Syriana lacks the gritty edge that
similarly conceived scores for those old 1970's political thrillers had.
Overall, Desplat's
Syriana is a head-scratcher, but it may
suffice at the most basic, necessary levels.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Alexandre Desplat reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.41
(in 32 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.22
(in 16,610 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
