MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

Oszukane – known in English as “Decieved” – is a Polish drama film directed by Marcin Solarz. It stars Sylwia Boroń and Carolina Chapko as Aneta and Natalia, two teenage girls who meet by chance, but then discover that they are actually twin sisters, separated at birth as a result of a mistake made by the hospital in which they were born. The score for the film is by a young, exceptionally talented Polish composer, Bartlomiej Gliniak, who impressed with his breakout score Teah in 2008, and is building quite a reputation for himself as one of the rising stars of Polish film music.

Written in the classical idiom, mainly for strings and piano, Gliniak’s music is lovely, slightly romantic in its general aspect, but not afraid to explore different emotional angles, and has several flowing, liquid themes running through the score that remind me of something Dario Marianelli might write. The opening pair, “The Visit” and “Bicycle Tour” are light and summery, both featuring expressive piano lines dancing underneath a prancing, upbeat bed of strings. Soft synth tones give “Remembrance” a sense of loss and dreamy introspection, which carries on through the “Meeting in the Cloth Hall”, the film’s central moment of dramatic realization. As the score progresses, several cues stand out. “Swings” is an interesting cue, blending icy, watery synth tones and a more modern percussive beat with a variation on the main piano motif. “Cruise” is simply beautiful, one of the best cues in the score, an undulating multi-layered string line with a strong, hopeful outlook; this is tempered by the more dramatic “A Quarrel on the Pier”, which is all sustained whole notes, low woodwind clusters and Maurice Jarre-style electronic textures.

“A Boom” is the closest the score comes to having an action cue, a frenzy of overlapping string scales and an urgent, bold cello rhythm, and this cue seems to mark a turning point on the score, as from then on things become much darker, more dramatic, and more emotional. Cues like “Suicide” play up the more tragic elements of the story, especially via its stark vocal effect at the end of the cue, while the brief but memorable “Birthday Party” contains so much sorrow on what should be a happy day. “The Show” has a searching, magical violin line that is to die for, and the score’s finale, anchored by the five-minute “Sisters”, is just gorgeous, with Gliniak extracting every ounce of emotional content from his violinists and cellists to tug at the audience’s heart strings.

The only oddities are “Twin Sisters”, “Fake Kid” and “The Club”, a trio of a throbbing, authentic dance music pieces which would be much more at home in the nightclubs of Europe, but illustrate perfectly Gliniak’s versatility.

This is a very impressive score from a composer who will likely be unfamiliar to most people outside Poland, but whose work deserves wider recognition. I don’t know what it is about the Poles – but with Preisner and Kilar, Kaczmarek and Korzeniowski, Bartosz Chajdecki and now Gliniak, there is clearly something in the water flowing out of Warsaw and Krakow which turns people into outstanding film composers. This comes highly recommended, and with a notification to keep our eye on this man.

Buy the Oszukane soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• The Visit (1:22)
• Bicycle Tour (2:18)
• Remembrance (1:43)
• Meeting in the Cloth Hall (4:20)
• Picnic (2:55)
• Swings (1:21)
• Cruise (1:57)
• A Quarrel on the Pier (1:44)
• A Boom (1:32)
• Daddy (1:57)
• Suicide (3:09)
• Parting (1:40)
• Birthday Party (1:33)
• The Show (1:54)
• Sisters (5:00)
• Twin Sisters (3:46)
• Fake Kid (2:03)
• The Club (1:52)

Running Time: 42 minutes 52 seconds

Gliniak Music (2013)