Marianelli

  • 2012 Oscar Reflections

     

     Here are the year's scores nominated for an Oscar:

    Anna Karenina (2012) Dario Marianelli

    Argo (2012) Alexander Desplat

    Life of Pi (Mychael Danna)

    Lincoln (2012) John Williams

    Skyfall (2012) Thomas Newman

     

     

    I realized that I did not do an Oscar reflection list since 2010.  The last couple of years have been interesting in their choices of scores.  In fact, sometimes one can find a common thread in the nominees overall.  Normally, I try to look at each score and try and find 5 reasons why it deserves an Oscar, but I will forego that analysis this year for more general reflections.

     

    The composers this year essentially continue a tradition of several non-American composers being nominated in the Best Score category.  You have to go back a decade to find selections entirely from American composers and even then you could see things were changing as the 2003 scores included the last film score of Elmer Bernstein, and music by Philip Glass, Elliot Goldenthal, Thomas Newman, and John Williams.  Two of those composers are among the 2013 nominees so we shall reflect on their scores first.

     

    It is hard to think that Thomas Newman’s Skyfall is from the same composer of scores such as American Beauty.  His tenth nomination is for a score in a genre that he is least associated with, the blockbuster action film, and is essentially for a British franchise.  And yet, his score manages to work quite well to support the inner character tension that occurs in one of the best Bond films in some time…and that is saying something since Daniel Craig’s helming of the role.  His nomination is the first since Wall-E (2008), itself a far more fascinating and important score as it has to really carry the picture in a totally different way.  In Skyfall, Newman’s original orchestration approaches are melded into a more traditional Barry/Arnold fabric quite well and perhaps this suggest an “international” musical style.

     

    Interestingly, the other four scores all bear on thing in common in that they have music that occasionally references global or folk music.  In the case of Lincoln, this results in Americana folk music moments.  As much a John Williams’ fan as I am, Lincoln is a score that demonstrates a master composer excelling at his craft.  The score is a blend of other Americana Williams’ scores (The Patriot, Amistad, The Reivers, etc.)  In fact, the violin melody here sounds like a variant of the primary theme from The Patriot while the lighter folk material is a warmer approach reminiscent of The Reivers.  The score is another that approaches ways to communicate inner conflict of primary characters, thus holding something in common with each of the scores represented this year.

     

    Dario Marianelli received his third nomination this year.  I remember hearing Pride and Prejudice in 2005 and remarking that this was Oscar-worthy material and its nomination was well-deserved as was his nomination and win for Atonement in 2008.  The latter score is actually full of amazing ways that music works both diagetically and non-diagetically to help create a strong narrative flow in a dramatic film.  With Anna Karenina, he is again on that firm historical drama footing but the music seems less striking here than in previous films.  And as much as I like Marianelli’s score, this one feels like the wrong one to receive this sort of attention.

     

    Another recent favorite composer of mine, Alexander Desplat, received his fifth nomination with Argo.  Sometimes it feels as if Desplat will soon take over from John Williams for having to have a score in the list of nominations each year.  Would that the scores nominated would actually be the composer’s best work of the year.  Most found his work on Rise of the Guardians to be far more interesting than Argo.  And the use of the score is actually quite minimal in the film.  The result is that the score is sort of swept up in the fervor of nominations for a film more than for what it brings to the end result.  Such a reality has made it possible for less worthy scores to end up winning (Brokeback Mountain, Babel, Slumdog Millionaire, The Social Network, for recent examples).  At least if that were to occur, an actual composer would receive the Oscar.

     

    Finally, Mychael Danna’s score for Life of Pi comes from a recent Golden Globe win.  Danna may be the first Canadian composer to receive an Oscar nomination, and it is his first recognition by the AMPAS.  This score too has some truly wonderful musical moments that have to carry the picture as it revolves around a small group of characters.  His use of world music is integrated well into the fabric of the music and may be the one attraction for those who will choose which score deserves the Oscar this year.

     

    Overall, then we have essentially five scores that on their own are not terribly interesting or memorable overall.  The Desplat falls into that category of films like The Hurt Locker, The Constant Gardner, and Babel where the music is less used than normal or incorporates Arabic-influences.  Both Marianelli and Williams have scores that do not stand out in their overall body of work but are well-crafted scores for their types.  Williams by now I think has almost as many nominations as Walt Disney and surpassed Alfred Newman last year when he had two scores nominated.  He is essentially one of the Deans of American Film Music, but Lincoln winning seems slight.  The last Bond score to receive a nomination was 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me by Marvin Hamlisch, so even on a good night Skyfall is perhaps a dark horse.  Of course, this is exactly the way scores end up winning in the end so it would not surprise me should it receive the Oscar this year.  I think Danna’s work is likely to win and if it does it will be the fifth time in a row where a composer and score won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar. 

     

    Regardless, it feels good that for the second straight year, AMPAS has nominated 5 scores all by established composers each with distinct voices and approaches to film scoring.  It will be great to see who comes out on top, but really that has already happened to have been nominated in the first place.  Good luck to all this Sunday!

  • The Oscar Goes to...

    Dario Marianelli picked up his first Oscar for Atonement at last night's Oscar ceremony.  This is the first win for the composer, previously nominated for Pride and Prejudice.  It's the first time in three years since the Academy has awarded a score that has received a Golden Globe.  The last one was for Shore's music to The Return of the King, the final installment of The Lord of the Rings.  Of course, Shore has not been nominated since, even though he scored last year's Best Picture winner, The Departed

    In some other news, Varese announced a few limited edition releases including a 4-disc set of Bill Conti's music for North and South.  The other discs include a pair of scores by Bernstein, North, and one by David Newman.  Those who decided to shell out their money for the Film Score Monthly multi-disc set of music from Superman films, likely breathed a fairly big sigh of relief.