MOVIE MUSIC UK

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton

American Fiction is a brilliant satire on literature, race, and family dynamics in contemporary society. Written and directed by Cord Jefferson, who is making his directorial debut here, and based on the 2001 novel ‘Erasure’ by Percival Everett, the film stars Jeffrey Wright as African-American author and English professor Thelonious “Monk” Ellison. Monk is having quite a few problems; his novels receive academic praise, but sell poorly, and publishers reject his most recent manuscript for not being “black enough”. His mother is developing Alzheimer’s disease, his extended family is highly dysfunctional, and he is increasingly annoyed by a fellow writer whose recent bestselling novel apparently panders to ‘ghetto’ black stereotypes but is feted by white literary critics. Frustrated, and needing to raise money for his mother’s medical bills, Monk swallows his pride, adopts the pseudonym ‘Stagg R. Leigh,’ and intentionally writes what he considers a ‘bad novel’ called My Pafology, which also panders to the same black/urban stereotypes of gang violence, drugs, and estranged families. To his increasing shock and exasperation, My Pafology becomes enormously popular and critically acclaimed, and Monk is forced to adopt the ‘gangbanger’ persona of Leigh to maintain the ruse, while also trying to juggle his personal and family issues.

The film is an outstanding examination of numerous societal issues relating to race, gender, sexuality, politics, art and literature, and so-called ‘wokeness,’ but is also hilarious and intelligent and heartfelt. It is anchored by a tremendous lead performance by Wright as the high-minded academic forced to abandon his principles to be a success, and he is excellently supported by an ensemble cast comprising Tracee Ellis Ross as his sister Lisa, John Ortiz as his agent Arthur, Erika Alexander as his romantic partner Coraline, Leslie Uggams as his mother Agnes, Issa Rae as his literary rival Sintara Golden, and Sterling K. Brown as his brother Cliff.

The score for American Fiction is by composer Laura Karpman, who is enjoying an enormously successful 2023 off the back of this score, and the super-hero extravaganza The Marvels. Karpman is a composer whose recent work has been deeply affected by social and racial issues; her score for Lovecraft Country, as well as the Ms. Marvel superhero TV series, while superficially situated in the fantasy and sci-fi worlds, nevertheless have addressed a number of important societal and cultural topics with sensitivity and inclusivity, and American Fiction is very much the same.

Inspired by the lead character’s nickname, Karpman chose to give American Fiction a jazz score, one specifically inspired by the work of Theolonious Monk. In an interview with Lynette Rice for Deadline, Karpman explains how she originally considered arranging an actual Monk tune, “Ruby, My Dear,” to be the film’s main theme, but instead decided to adopt the piece’s 5/4 time signature and incorporate that into an original melody that eventually became Monk’s theme. In a different interview, with Tim Grieving for the Los Angeles Times, Karpman further explains that she used her late father’s 1927 Steinway piano to come up with the related Ellison Family Theme, which she says she intentionally wrote to be ‘out of sync’ – two pianos, or a piano played with flute and guitar, that are never played together – in order to illustrate the fractured nature of Monk’s familial relationships. These two themes, named “Monk Is” and “Family Is,” are the cornerstones of the score, and they feature solo jazz performances by pianist Patrice Rushen, flautist Elena Pinderhughes, and saxophonist John Yoakum, alongside Karpman’s orchestra.

The resulting score is a combination of lovely orchestral lines and wonderfully authentic pieces of jazz. What I mean by that is that, unlike other scores which have a superficially jazzy feel, Karpman’s writing feels like proper jazz. I’m not sure how to articulate that any further without getting overly technical, but it’s just a feeling that comes through from the score in a number of subtle ways.

Both of the main themes appear in the opening cue, “Family Is, Monk Is,” which is initially a cascade of warm piano chords, fascinating elaborations thereon, and expressive flute accents, but soon transitions into something much more upbeat, rhythmic, and swaggering, a sexy bossa nova carried by a saxophone and backed by a juicy percussion section. There are performances of the Family theme in later cues like “Beautiful Family,” the mysteriously emotional “Mother Is (Missing),” and the intimate “Love All of You,” and performances of the Monk’s theme in “Hi Lorraine” and the coolly enticing “Splash,” all of which are very satisfying.

Other interesting cues include the groovy “Boston, MA,” which has a driving piano beat and fluttering flute textures. “Bookstore” is quirky and a little unsettled, with comedic undertones to the stabbed piano lines, finger snap percussion, and squealing saxes, mirroring the frustration Monk feels during a trip to a bookstore and finding his book buried in the wrong place.

In “My Pafology” Karpman writes a piece inspired by both Maurice Ravel and Herbie Hancock for a scene where two imaginary actors enact characters from Monk’s cynical fake memoir; there is some wonderful noirish trumpet writing here, layered against gorgeous, darkly romantic pianos. “Goodnight Monk” has a bittersweet tone to the pianos, and these are defaced further by some unusual metallic scraping effects which intentionally make the listener uneasy. Conversely, “Brothers” has a gorgeous sense of warmth and tenderness, sentimental but not mawkish, illustrating the complicated but ultimately loving relationship between Monk and Cliff.

“Winner” has a chaotic, semi-deconstructed version of Monk’s theme surrounded by a wild array of impressionistic jazz textures, underscoring the brilliant final scene where the rug is pulled out from under the audience and the true nature of what has been happening is revealed. Then in the conclusive “Romantic Ending” Karpman leans heavily into traditional Hollywood orchestral scoring with lush and sweeping strings that are just delightful.

The final five pieces on the soundtrack album are a series of jazz improvisations based on one or more of the main themes: Elena Pinderhughes’s version of “Monk Is,” Patrice Rushen’s version of “Monk Is,” and then her version of “Family Is”. “Laura’s Stagg R. Leigh” is a groovy, dirty jazz instrumental built around some killer lines for dueling saxes, pianos and vibraphones, and a stand-up bass, but then “Laura’s Fever Dream” is straight-up weird, a collision of jazz, hip-hop, grinding electronica, and peculiar sonic manipulation that has to be heard to be believed.

American Fiction is a good score, perfect for the film it accompanies. However, I will say that in order to appreciate this score at all you have to have an affinity for very authentic contemporary jazz, because the score is steeped in it. Jazz can be a difficult genre to get to grips with – I know it took me a very long time to get to the point I am now, where I can actually appreciate what is going on – and so if you don’t have that as part of your musical makeup, proceed with caution. For everyone else, it gets a recommendation for its authenticity, its musicality, its solo performances, and its dramatic application in the context of the excellent film.

Buy the American Fiction soundtrack from the Movie Music UK Store

Track Listing:

• Family Is, Monk Is (4:53)
• Boston, MA (1:18)
• Bookstore (2:07)
• Beautiful Family (1:52)
• Humans Remain (1:38)
• My Pafology (3:16)
• Hi Lorraine (2:54)
• Drips (1:51)
• Goodnight Monk (1:13)
• Mother Is (Missing) (1:38)
• Brothers (1:10)
• Splash (2:21)
• Love All of You (1:11)
• Lunch Break (0:45)
• Sorry (1:41)
• Winner (1:17)
• Romantic Ending (1:36)
• Elena’s Monk Is (2:19)
• Patrice’s Monk Is (4:18)
• Patrice’s Family Is (2:56)
• Laura’s Stagg R. Leigh (1:09)
• Laura’s Fever Dream (3:36)

Running Time: 46 minutes 59 seconds

Sony Masterworks (2023)

Music composed by Laura Karpman. Conducted by Bernhard Melbye Voss Orchestrations by Jeff Kryka. Featured musical soloists Laura Karpman, Patrice Rushen, Elena Pinderhughes and John Yoakum. . Recorded and mixed by Tristan Linton. Edited by Alex Levy. Album produced by Laura Karpman and Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum.