It's that time of year when a spate of Oscar-hopefuls begin to make the rounds after appearances at the Fall film festivals.  September tends to usher in a host of these films trying to gain a foothold in the midst of studio dreck.  A long the way some art-house dreck appears as well.  That may be how many will view Ang Lee's latest period drama, Lust, Caution, a WWII-era film set in Shangai and filled with political intrigue, graphic violence, and sex (the latter earning the film the deadly NC-17 rating here in the states). 

I have been catching up on watching a couple of Kurosawa films from the 1950s that were Japanese takes on American 1940s Film Noir and could not help but think that the current film has something in common with those films.  Lee tends to approach film quite differently which is either refreshing or infuriating depending on your point of view.  Most of the time, I have found that I experience what the director intended in his films but wonder what all the critical fuss was about.

Lust, Caution did win the Golden Lion (for Lee) and the Golden Osella (for cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto) at this year’s Venice Film Festival.  It was also seen at the Toronto Film Festival in September before receiving a limited US release at the end of the month.  It marks as well the first Desplat score appearing this year in the US, though it is the 3rd of 4 films he has scored this year (the next one is the anticipated The Golden Compass).

The disc opens with a title track that briefly evokes a noirish atmosphere (a sound that recurs to flavor the score, deliciously so in “The South Quarry”).  In fact, some of the scoring and musical gestures at times feel almost like a contemporary Vertigo.   Desplat’s penchant for writing beautifully captivating waltzes continues in this score as well with the following “Dinner Waltz” a piece for piano (performed by Alain Planes) and string quintet.  There is plenty here to admire:  richly-scored ostinatos, those celeste and bell sounds that seem to be a Desplat fingerprint, and tuneful melodic ideas that we hear deconstructed and varied throughout the body of the score.  In fact, a lot of what is here sounds a great deal like A Girl With a Pearl Earing except for the fact that Desplat has captured a more 1940s style and blended it with some of the picturesque period music from last year’s The Painted Veil.  What always fascinates me about Desplat’s music is the way he introduces little motifs and thematic threads against ostinato patterns.  The music is often harmonically dense and then spreads either into an amazingly bright churning musical idea, or slides into a dark, neoromantic musical sound.  “Streets of Shanghai” tends to do the latter as does most of the score, with moments when one thinks there will be  a sign of hope (like in the beginning of “Nanjing Road”) but the light does not shine long even as we sense that things could go differently, as in the beautifully poignant “The Angel.”  The “Dinner Waltz” provides one of several anchors to the score as it progresses as does a beautifully written and played (by Dominique Lemonnier) solo violin line which floats in and around the dark textures.  There are moments when glimmers of light seem tantalizingly close, but the music often sinks back into a sad melancholic sound.  By “An Empty Bed” the theme has begun to take on aspects of the film noir underscoring, a bit more chromatic in its orchestral accompaniment, but still maintains an almost chilling beauty.

What will attract many to the music is the way it moves delicately between its engaging thematic elements, none of which try hard to be Asian as say Doyle’s were in As You Like It (which was set in Japan) or 2005’s Memoirs of a Geisha.  Certain gestures in the music provide suggestions of the setting without overpowering you with the obvious.  There are many moments that remind one of John Williams’ music (a theme here sounds at times like a variation from Presumed Innocent), but it is a decidedly different, and strong musical voice that weaves the character’s motivations and actions perfectly into the musical fabric of the score.  It would be hard to imagine Lust, Caution being omitted from favorite scores of the year, and it would be equally surprising if it is not remembered come nominating time.  As a listening experience on its own, it is quite engrossing as one is constantly enthralled at the subtlety in scoring Desplat employs and as usual, with his themes.  This is all summed up in “Wong Chia Chi’s Theme” which contains many of the threads and motifs heard earlier in the score.  The disc concludes with 2 “bonus” tracks depicting “Seduction” (a haunting noirish track) and “Desire” respectively.

Planes also is featured in a performance of the Brahms “Intermezzo in A, Op. 118, no. 2” in a fittingly nuanced performance.  The bass end of the score is extremely accentuated in this recording, not distractingly slow, but you will know if your subwoofer is working!

After Shire's Zodiac, and Giacchino's Ratatouille, this is the next fine score from 2007, and you could not find three more completely different styles or films to be represented.

Coming either Sunday or Monday: Best New to the Library for September

I had a pretty busy Friday lined up so I wanted to make sure yesterday to post my reviews of the upcoming Commotion releases while they were still fresh in my mind.  But, that meant missing the birthday of Alexandre Desplat (1961), one of my newest favorite film composers.  He and Dario Marianelli are two composers to watch (Deplat's music tends to be similar to John Williams, Marienelli's music often reminds me of Goldsmith--I don't know why it just does).

Anyway, Desplat's music came to my attention through his score for Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003).  This particular score kept popping up on film music "best of" lists and when I managed to see the film, I immediately knew why.  This is a gorgeous score with a primary theme that surely is among the best film themes of the new decade.  I would say that if you have no other music by Desplat, start with this score.  Never before have I returned to a score as often as this one jsut for pure enjoyment of it.

The reality is that Despalt has been writing for film for over two decades now, starting back in 1985 with a score for a somewhat forgettable French comedy, Ki lo sa?.  Beginning in 2003 though, Desplat has quickly risen to the attention of the film music community.  It was not really until the year 2000, and his score for The Luzhin Defense that Desplat's music had a CD release that might pop up in your local store.  That score is also quite good and comes and a place in the composer's career where his style appears to be nearly formulated.

It is not uncommon now for his scores now to find accompanying CD releases (the only one so far was a score for the romantic comedy/drama Lies and Alibis--which came and went in limited release).  He has had a couple of interesting takes on the American thriller with both Firewall and Hostage.  I prefer the latter, but in both cases it is clear that he was trying hard to maintain his own sound while trying to recreate the temp track.  Better to check out a Silva compilation that includes some of his thriller music for French cinema.

Three of Desplat's scores came to public notice over the last two years.  The first of these was an interesting score for Syriana (2005).  Here is a more difficult score to sit through in some respects, but you get to hear Desplat try his hand at the blending of ethnic music from the Middle East.  It works fairly well and was his second Golden Globe nomination.  Last year, he had two quite different but equally fascinating scores for The Queen and for The Painted Veil.  The latter one the Golden Globe but the former got the Oscar nomination.  I think the foreign press was on the right track this time with their award as The Painted Veil is an equally fascinating listen as well as a stellar piece of work in its respective film.

Desplat's next big Oscar bait project is for The Golden Compass.  This big fantasy adventure film looks amazing in the trailers and we can hope for a great score to follow the imagery from this source.  Desplat was rumored to also have been scheduled to score Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  The film's music will now be by Patrick Doyle.  My guess is that this was perhaps more a problem of post-production scheduling than in any creative difference.  But, either way, we would have a score worth waiting for--now we get a 3rd Doyle score this year to go with As You Like It, The Last Legion, and the upcoming Sleuth!

If you have not heard Desplat's music, you are in for a real treat.  The places to start are Girl With a Pearl Earring and The Painted Veil.  Birth (2004) is equally interesting but probably more for the die hard fan--which some of you will likely become!