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| Elfman |
Taking Woodstock: (Danny Elfman) Arguably director
Ang Lee's least acclaimed film to date, the 2009 dramatic comedy
Taking Woodstock was a significant fiscal disaster for
independent studio Focus Features, which sank $30 million into the film
only to see it sneak out of the Cannes Film Festival and slip through a
general distribution with less than $10 million to show for itself
worldwide. The problem with
Taking Woodstock was simple: it tells
a partially fictionalized account of the people and circumstances behind
the 1969 Woodstock Festival without actually incorporating much of the
concert itself. The back story of the farm on which the festival took
place, the motel which served as the organizers' headquarters, and the
disdain of the local citizens towards the family that sold out to the
heathen festival are the focus of
Taking Woodstock. It's
essentially a character story involving that family, though an
absolutely wretched performance by upstart comedian Demetri Martin in
the lead role was slammed consistently by critics. Ultimately, the same
challenge that destroyed the film's mainstream chances also inhibited
its score by Danny Elfman. While some of the famous music featured at
Woodstock is heard incidentally in the film, there isn't enough of it to
really please the audience, and Elfman's music, in the process of
addressing the character drama and only occasionally teasing you with
instrumental bridge sequences that would seem to suggest that one of the
famous songs is about to erupt, suffers the same fate. Elfman was
perhaps the perfect composer for this film; it not only gave him another
opportunity to chase bad memories of the process of working on Lee's
disastrous
The Hulk, but it also allowed him to explore some of
the groovy inclinations that reach back to his 1970's Oingo Boingo days
and, as any composer loves to do, improvise on his favorite instruments
for extended sequences in a score. This assignment could very well have
gone to undeserving multi-Oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla, with whom
Lee had experienced great success on
Brokeback Mountain, and what
Elfman chose to produce for the score isn't far beyond the realm of
Santaolalla's comfort zone. Fret not Elfman enthusiasts, however,
because the veteran composer's minimal tones will sound significantly
more authentic to your film score collecting ears. That said, there is
absolutely nothing in this score that will remind you of Elfman's major
symphonic works (or even his melodic mannerisms).
Since the songs of the Woodstock concert weren't
dominant in their source usage on screen, Elfman was left in a position
to be able to explore independent lines of meandering atmosphere without
worrying about competing with (or outwardly emulating) those songs. His
instrumental choices are instead the key, starting with a blend of
acoustic guitar and electric guitar to symbolize the cultural overlap of
the folk and rock genres at the time. On top of that, solo clarinet,
solo cello, a Hammond organ, and a few occasional synthetic samples or
percussion offer the only colors in a work otherwise defined by the
guitars. Four of these instruments combine for "Taking Woodstock
Titles," a surprisingly somber and strangely ethnic-sounding piece for
the guitars, clarinet, and cello. While Elfman spreads a theme
consisting of two-note phrases throughout the score, his melodic lines
are extended in this opening cue. There is almost a faint tango movement
in this cue that gives it a nebulous cultural personality, and its
dwelling in the low ranges of all the involved instruments denotes the
dire financial circumstances (among other problems of identity crisis)
that face the family in the plot. The clarinet and cello contributions
are reprised at times in the score, but
Taking Woodstock is
primarily a chance to hear Elfman's solo guitar performances (which, in
all cases, are quite accomplished... This score speaks to his abilities
on acoustic and electric guitars to the same degree that
The
Nightmare Before Christmas did for his voice). The psychedelic
influences contributed by the electric guitar bend reality with
pitch-defying performances in the first half of the album presentation,
though Elfman's more conventional and attractive acoustic guitar cues
(of even a slightly more upbeat nature) are prevalent in the last third.
On top of an extremely subdued and dapper personality in the majority of
Taking Woodstock, however, Elfman's score does face a hurdle
which it cannot jump. In his source-like cues, you end up desiring the
concert songs themselves, especially in the case of "Groovy Thing
(Office #1)." In the remainder, you are left longing for a spark of
life, something equivalent to his underrated score for
Anywhere But
Here ten years earlier. That score combined acoustic and electric
guitars with hip percussion (and even vocal attitude and minimal
orchestral assistance) in ways that
Taking Woodstock never does,
potentially urging the listener of the latter score to seek out the
limited selections available from the earlier one. Still, you have to
admire Elfman's take on
Taking Woodstock, even if it doesn't make
for a particularly attractive 30-minute listening experience on album.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.12
(in 95 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 154,830 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a summary of the film's story, but no extra information
about the score.
