Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you're a generally well-adjusted and happy person who has wondered what it would be like to lose all hope in life, in which case this drab electronic score on your stereo's repeat function will send you in the right direction. Avoid it... if you're already being treated for hallucinations or depression with a variety of pills and therapies, in which case scores like this one will smother whatever sparks of life that still fire in your brain. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Donnie Darko: (Michael Andrews) The word "depressing" doesn't even begin to describe Donnie Darko. It's not the gore-fest that many disturbing pop culture hits of the 2000's are, but rather a science fiction contemplation of death and destiny with an immensely disturbing ending. Why films like this even exist is a worthy question, because most audiences are unlikely to even understand first time director Richard Kelly's purpose. Even if you do get some satisfaction from the exploration of alternate universes and the idea escaping one's fate, the ending of Donnie Darko is so grim that it's not worth the questions even being posed. Still, people like to be emotionally yanked around in these sorts of ways, especially if the topic includes teen romance and cute, young stars staring off into nothingness. After grossing only half a million dollars upon trying to woo arthouse crowds at its 2001 release, Donnie Darko became a hit in DVD circulation due to fantastic word of mouth. This led to a director's cut that was re-distributed to theatres in 2004. You do have to give credit to the production for making the most out of a small budget. Along with a decent cast, Donnie Darko also sports surprisingly good visual effects that took advantage of the ever-lessening expense of CGI renderings. Unfortunately, one area in which the production went for the cheapest possible option was in its original score, which became the first feature assignment of a composer for whom lesser television series had been the pinnacle of his output. As with anytime a traditional band member enters the realm of film scoring, there are perils of inexperience that inevitably lead to a score that strives to match the atmosphere of a film without really adding any new dimension to it. Such is exactly the case with Donnie Darko, which features a score that suffices in its basic addressing of the topic without actually containing any clever sense of direction that can foreshadow or help explain the non-linear movements of the film. It is a stream of consciousness score with an extremely conservative stance in mind from the start. Low budgets often force composers to be extremely creative, but at other times, they simply yield basically sufficient but ultimately pointless background noise. To say that Michael Andrews' Donnie Darko transcends beyond the struggles of the latter category would be an insult to the plethora of more interesting film music in existence. While on the surface Andrews' work may seem wholly uncoordinated, there was some planning that went into the sound of Donnie Darko. Because the film is set in 1988, there is a bit of emulation of early Vangelis environments, with a voxophone employed to produce the synthetic sounds thought to be appropriate to the era's view on science fiction. Unfortunately for Andrews and the director, these sounds would have been appropriate if the film had been set in the 1970's; the late 80's had seen significant maturation in synthetic tones since the voxophone era. The employment of a piano to match the sweet suburban/familial setting is as much a budget decision as an artistic one. Slight waltz rhythms in both the piano and synthetic keyboarding draw out the score's thematic elements to insufferably slow expressions. The middle portion of the score adds electronic choral effects (synthetically altered or of library origin, it doesn't really matter) that are almost reminiscent of the ethereal portions of Danny Elfman's Beetlejuice. These portions are obviously the highlights of Donnie Darko, for the lengthy cues of synthetic droning for purely atmospheric purposes double as a sound effects layer for the film. The few jabs and strikes to hit points of synchrony in the film, as in "Ensurance Trap," are sparsely rendered. It's disappointing to hear these moments (and the entirety of the score, really) fail to offer any depth in the soundscape, no real distinction between treble and bass elements, when the story is offering such a thought-provoking premise. There simply needed to be more instrumental development to break through the necessary moments of haze in Donnie Darko and add a truly convincing layer to the film. The waltz movements to represent insanity, best exemplified by "Waltz in the 4th Dimension," start to touch upon this idea, but without clear musical lines for the girlfriend, the evil rabbit, the grandma, and other characters, then how could their musical representations be twisted to better represent the temporal paradoxes and parallel universes? It should be mentioned that the softly elegant solo piano cue "Did You Know Him?" is simply emotionally misplaced in its totality. The extraordinarily drab album is actually saved by an equally depressing but at least digestible cover version of the Tears for Fears song "Mad World." Gary Jules' voice sounds eerily similar to that of a sullen Michael Stipe, interestingly, and an alternate version adds a percussion layer to the mix. The lyrics tell you everything you need to know about the score, too. Watch out for wayward jet engines and down those pills! ** Track Listings (Both Albums):
Total Time: 37:23
(the score portion on CD 2 of the 2004 album is identical to the contents of the 2002 album) All artwork and sound clips from Donnie Darko are Copyright © 2002, 2004, Everloving Records, Sanctuary Records UK. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 11/24/09, updated 11/24/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2009-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
2002 Everloving