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Under-the-Radar Round Up 2015, Part 5
Original Reviews by Jonathan Broxton
The fifth installment in my series of articles looking at the best “under the radar” scores from around the world takes a look at another great bunch of music from films and TV shows from Spain and Portugal. As I mentioned before, 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. This final crop features scores by Oscar nominees and promising newcomers, spanning documentaries and dramas and animated films, including three of the scores nominated for the 2015 Goyas, the Spanish Academy Awards.
A SINGLE MAN – Abel Korzeniowski, Shigeru Umebayashi
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
A Single Man is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, and marks the directorial debut of writer/director and former fashion designer Tom Ford. Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, it tells the story of a British college professor George (Colin Firth) who, following the death of his long-time homosexual partner, struggles to find meaning in his life. The film is already a critical success, with Colin Firth tipped to receive his first Academy Award nomination for his performance, and has also seen recognition for the score by 37-year-old Polish composer Abel Korzeniowski, who received a Golden Globe nomination for his work. Read more…
HANNIBAL RISING – Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi
Original Review by Clark Douglas
I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a franchise fall as far as this one. “Silence of the Lambs” is often unfairly labeled a horror film, it is so much more than that. It’s a brilliant character study featuring one of the most fascinating characters ever to grace the movie screen. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter, as played by Anthony Hopkins, was nothing short of pure evil, magnetic and seductive, a layer of intelligent charm covering the terrifying monster underneath. When Hopkins played the role in two sequels, “Hannibal” and “Red Dragon”, the character lost a bit of fascination, but watching Hopkins play the character was so enjoyable that those movies were tolerable, particularly “Red Dragon”. Read more…
CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER – Shigeru Umebayashi
Original Review by Clark Douglas
Watching “Curse of the Golden Flower”, I was reminded of something someone said in the documentary “A Decade Under the Influence” (I forget who)… that during the 50’s and 60’s, many directors held the belief that the kinds of movies people wanted to see were those about people who lived grand, epic lives that bore no resemblance to our own. “It’s like taking a trip to a new and wonderful place!” was the rationale. There’s a certain degree of truth there, but the flip side of the coin is, it’s often hard to identify with and care about the grand people who live in these worlds. Read more…
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS – Shigeru Umebayashi
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In the wake of the success of the Oscar-winning 2000 film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hollywood seems to be in love with Chinese martial arts films. It’s not difficult to see why: with their simple tales of love, honor and revenge, exotic locales and breathtaking scenery, and highly stylized action sequences (which, more often than not, feature characters performing gravity-defying stunts on wires), the genre is inherently cinematic. In 2002, revered director Zhang Yimou made the critically acclaimed Hero starring Jet Li. Having loved the experience so much, he immediately followed it with another film of a similar nature: House of Flying Daggers. Read more…
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