MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

There aren’t many Turkish films which attain any sort of international prominence, but director Yılmaz Erdoğan’s film Kelebeğin Rüyası – The Butterfly’s Dream – is one of the rarities. It was Turkey’s official submission to the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film; according to its official press, the film is set in Turkey in the early 1940s, and revolves around two good friends, Rüştü Onur (Mert Firat) and Muzaffer Tayyip Uslu (Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ), who make a living out of publishing poetry. However, with World War II in full swing across the world, and with the social class system and religious barriers of the time giving rise to numerous problems, their story takes a turn when both fall in love.

Newcomer Rahman Altin won the Public Choice Award at the World Soundtrack Awards at the 40th Film Fest in Gent, Belgium for his score, and it’s not difficult to see why. Lyrical, passionate, and performed by a full orchestra, this music is a thematic, romantic delight. Much of the score is built around piano melodies; there’s a beautiful, solemn piano motif in the main theme, “The Butterfly’s Dream”, which gradually grows to encompass gentle flutes and a more prominent, grinding cello motif. Later, cues such as “Sea of Typewriters”, and “Picnic” continue the prominent piano performances, while others like “Wall of Poets” introduce a longing, searching solo violin that is just sublime. “To Istanbul” makes excellent use of the full orchestra in one of the largest and lushest settings of the main theme, while “Coalmine” is much darker and more tension-filled.

Much of the score has the same sort of feel to it – that of beautiful, but slightly circumspect romance – and the lack of changes in tone and tempo do start to make the album drag a little towards its conclusion (although the final cue, “Farewell Muzaffer”, is lovely), but you can’t deny the score’s sense of calm, peace and reflection, and the orchestral performances, which are all superb. Rahman Altin is a composer to watch.

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Track Listing:

• The Butterfly’s Dream (4:29)
• Forgetting (1:12)
• So Much to Tell (2:30)
• Sea of Typewriters (1:48)
• Wall of Poets (1:43)
• Picnic (1:27)
• Did the Butterfly Wake? (5:14)
• To Istanbul (1:25)
• Regret (1:57)
• We Are Alive (2:23)
• Coalmine (4:35)
• Sanatorium (1:09)
• Snowball (1:38)
• Poets from Zonguldak (1:19)
• A Fragrance About You (1:05)
• The Mystic’s Dream (0:52)
• So Pale (2:25)
• Night and the Poet (2:04)
• Before Mirrors Spoke (2:32)
• Good Morning, Mr. Muzaffer (0:39)
• No Kisses (0:47)
• My Destiny (0:30)
• Farewell, Muzaffer (2:12)

Running Time: 46 minutes 09 seconds

Dogan Music Company DMC-103666