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Big Fish: (Danny Elfman) Adapted from Daniel Wallace's novel
"Big Fish: A Story of Mythic Proportions," the premise of this film accomplishes
exactly what director Tim Burton loves the most: to tell a tear-jerking dramatic
tale in the context of a wildly imaginative distortion of reality. With lavish
production values,
Big Fish is the story of a dying father in Alabama who
has spent a lifetime telling his son tall tales about his own youth, with most of
the stories far too bizarre to be true. Through the retelling of the stories, the
son lets the audience decide what is true and what is not, thus allowing viewers to
determine the level of forgiveness that should be afforded the father. Thus, you
get a father-mother-son reconciliation story in the context of totally grandiose
fables involving a 10-foot gentle giant, crazy circus performers, a glass-eyed
fortune-telling witch, conjoined Korean twin night club singers, and one absolutely
gargantuan catfish. Critical reaction to the film often depended on the capacity of
the individual critic's imagination, with an either "love it or hate it" response.
What you gain from the outstanding adventures and the heart-warming love story are
perhaps lost in the contrasting examination of the stark realities of life and
death, and, for some, that gap may be too great. In terms of its production, when
you see projects like
Big Fish, you have to stop for a moment and be
appreciative of the fact that the partnership between Burton and composer Danny
Elfman was once again alive and well in the 2000's. Also a sucker for stories of
just this kind, Elfman had a more difficult task than you might expect upon
accepting this assignment. Instead of pouring on a straight forward dose of
fairy-tale sentiment, Elfman was forced to combine the circus-like environment with
American Deep South locations, the sensitive real-life reconciliation of a family,
and a variety of reality-altering motifs associated with the tales. The result of
the score could very well be termed the third volume of "Music for a Darkened
Theatre," because it allows Elfman to roam into the wide variety of genres that he
usually expands upon on a one-by-one basis for each of his other works.
The tones of shifting locales and melodramatic, emotional upheaval
prevalent in his style can often play havoc with the consistency of his scores out
of context, but Elfman manages to traverse the entire spectrum of his palette
without allowing one jarring transition to slip into his score for
Big Fish.
The diversity of Elfman's talents are on full display in this effort, with modern
bluegrass sounds mingling with historical Southern flavor, his typical choral
beauty, a fair amount of depressing underscore, and a few flashes of more
contemporary rhythms. Early cues even explore the composer's most low-key and
subdued, sentimental tones of introspection for a small ensemble. Thus, you can't
compare
Big Fish to any one of Elfman's other scores in particular. Instead,
by listing the stylistic references to his previous works in sum, you can start to
get an accurate picture of the overall equation. First and foremost, Elfman
collectors who got a taste of his classic beauty of
Edward Scissorhands in
2000's
The Family Man were hoping for more of the same in
Big Fish.
Unfortunately, for you fans in particular, there are no majestic outbursts of theme
and chorus in this outing. The "Underwater" cue, a short but memorable highlight,
does offer some of this harmonic brilliance on a lesser scale; the choral use is
usually kept to the smaller size and background role heard in Elfman's scores of
this era (in which the vocals were typically light and fluffy in a supporting
position in the mix). The personality of
Big Fish is driven by the fiddle
and other specialty instruments meant to emphasize a Southern lifestyle, and this
is a touch that Elfman had rarely employed since the gorgeous tandem of
Sommersby and
Black Beauty. Some listeners will equate this sound,
along with the score's instrumental diversity, with Thomas Newman or James Horner's
more spirited parochial works. An electric base often accompanies cues of
underscore while dialogue is prominent, bringing Elfman's subtle synthetic rhythms
from his late-90's scores into the mix. The employment of a piano for the most
touching moments of family unity is another reminder of early 2000's dramas from
the composer.
Elfman's primary theme for
Big Fish is underwhelming,
although very pretty and pleasant in its harmony. A sub-theme for the Sandra
character is more heavily romantic, but Elfman applies a touch of tragedy to
"Sandra Theme" by presenting the theme in the major-key until the final note
ominously and tragically shifts and dies in the minor key. Elfman repeats this
process a few times in the work, presenting a cue largely in the major key until
the final note makes a transition into the minor. Perhaps he does this to bring the
stories back into their sad, later context, but the move serves as a constant
reminder to the listener that there is tragedy mixed into the glory of the primary
character's youthful adventures. The orchestra is almost always present to back up
the primary solo instruments with a full, rounded accompaniment, further weighing
on the listener's heart. Be aware that if you enjoy the carnival atmosphere of the
score's mid-section (including the victorious "Growing Montage," complete with bold
brass and tolling chimes), the personality of
Big Fish, while often cheerful
during the adventures, is subdued and solemn on an introverted level in its other
parts (much like
Sommersby once again). A single music box used in a few
cues is a good example of that sentiment here. In short,
Big Fish flies
across the spectrum of Elfman's talents, but does not exhibit his beauty in its
grandest form. It is a highly personal and humble score that demands a listener
with an open frame of mind to fully appreciate. On album, Sony presents listeners
with about 40 minutes of Elfman's score for the film, and even at this somewhat
shorter running time, fans of the composer will delight in the full range of his
styles at work there. The rest of the album has a predictably awkward collection of
songs from many eras (definitely a result of Burton's tastes), but with the
exception of the final song number for the conjoined Korean twins, even they are
appealing by themselves. Overall,
Big Fish is a solid and imaginative score
with cohesive spirit. With its somewhat surprising nominations for a Golden Globe
and Academy Award, the score assisted in erasing the memories of Elfman's awkward
failure for
The Hulk earlier in the year.
****
| Bias Check: | For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.14 (in 42 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.28
(in 93,536 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes lyrics for "Man of the Hour," but no extra
information about the score or film.
