Archive
Best Scores of 2016 – Spain and Portugal
The sixth installment in my annual series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world concentrates on music from films from Spain and Portugal. I have long been of the opinion that, pound for pound, the best film music in the world is being written on the Iberian peninsula, and this year’s nine entries more than confirm that theory yet again. Read more…
Best Scores of 2015 – Spain and Portugal, Part I
The first installment in my series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world concentrates on music from films from Spain and Portugal. I have been very vocal in the past about my admiration for the music coming out of the Iberian peninsula, and this year just reinforces my view that some of the best film music in the world right now is being written there. My first look at the area features new scores by some of my favorite contemporary composers, including Federico Jusid and Nuno Malo, and there will be more to come later! Read more…
NO GOD NO MASTER – Nuno Malo
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Two Italian immigrants to the United States, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, became causes célèbres in New York in the 1920s when they were arrested, tried, and subsequently executed for their apparent part in the murder of two men during the armed robbery of a shoe factory. Popular contemporary thinking maintains that Sacco and Vanzetti – who were both unapologetic anarchists who advocated relentless warfare against a violent and oppressive government – were framed patsies, convicted as a political statement despite overwhelming evidence of their innocence, and much study into their case has been conducted in the years since their deaths. Director Terry Green’s film No God No Master uses the details of the Sacco and Vanzetti case as part of a broader-brush film about U.S. Bureau of Investigation Agent William Flynn, who in 1919 was assigned the task of finding those responsible for a series of package bombs which exploded on the doorsteps of prominent politicians and businessmen. Before long Flynn is immersed in an investigation that uncovers an anarchist plot to destroy democracy, and brings Sacco and Vanzetti to his attention. The film – which was completed in 2012 but only opened in limited markets this summer – stars David Strathairn as Flynn, James Madio and Alessandro Mario as Sacco and Vanzetti, and features an absolutely spectacular score by Portuguese composer Nuno Malo. Read more…
AMÁLIA – Nuno Malo
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Amália da Piedade Rodrigues was a Portuguese singer and actress whose life and work helped popularize fado – a specific genre of Portuguese folk music – on a worldwide scale. From the 1940s until her death in 1999 Amália was known as Rainha do Fado (the Queen of Fado) and was immensely popular in her native country, selling hundreds of thousands of records. Carlos Coelho da Silva’s film Amália, which stars Sandra Barata Belo in the lead role, is the story of her life. Although the film played in theaters in Portugal in 2008, it is only just now beginning to surface in other countries; to coincide with this wider exposure, Moviescore Media has released the film’s score, by US-based Portuguese composer Nuno Malo. It’s absolutely wonderful. Read more…
Shop at the Movie Music UK Store
Member of the
MOVIE MUSIC UK 