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Elektra: (Christophe Beck) Picking up where her
appearance in
Daredevil leaves off,
Elektra hits the big
screens at the same time as a sequel to
Daredevil is said to be in
the works. For this spin-off, the first solo film of Greek assassin Elektra
Natchios takes inspiration from the Elektra: Assassin graphic novel and the
Elektra Saga from Frank Miller's run in the Marvel Comics' 'Daredevil'
series (Elektra was introduced in #168 around 1980). In her involvement with
the Order of the Hand, Elektra finds herself in the same predicament as the
lead assassin in the modern cult hit
The Replacement Killers, serving
as a resurrected assassin herself who ends up befriending the family she is
meant to kill and fighting her own fellow assassins and their leader.
Enthusiasts of both the 'Daredevil' and 'Elektra' story arcs will find
several crossover references to be satisfied with continuity issues, and
Fox's films of these combined characters are left open-ended for possibly
more sequels in the future. The martial arts in
Elektra are said to
rival those in the films currently sweeping across the Far East, and lead
actress Jennifer Garner (during a break from her work on the
Alias
television show) fills out the role with more than enough kick-ass attitude
and ball-busting physique to make
Elektra a sexy eye-candy flick at
the very least. The high-flying action and exotic locations, as well as a
certain element of religious atmosphere, allowed composer Christophe Beck to
experiment greatly with the character of the score. As Beck states, "One
thing I wanted to try for a while was to create textures and music beds and
edit and manipulate them to create both strange and familiar musical
elements."
To accomplish this, he first recorded an orchestral
ensemble specifically for the purpose of manipulating its sound into an
abstract sound design. He then recorded an 83-player orchestra with which to
layer the more traditional half of the proposed equation. Without a doubt,
Elektra is an experimental departure for Beck, who is likely best
known for his Emmy-winning music for the
Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
television series and the light drama
Under the Tuscan Sun just over
a year ago. Of his 40 or so film scores,
Elektra is very likely to be
his best known assignment regardless of the film's success, and you can
certainly hear the effort he put into the soundscape for his score. By no
means is
Elektra a typical heroine or superhero score; it makes
Graeme Revell's
Daredevil score seem even more mundane than it
already was. While Beck seems to have attempted to make a genuinely fresh
and unique collaboration between sound design and live orchestra, the
ambient sound effects leave a far more lasting impression when all is heard
and done. A theme for the title character does exist, but its role is
significantly downplayed by the seemingly more important need by Beck to
establish atmosphere above all else. There are no swooshes or brass
fanfares; as a matter of fact, the performances of theme in
Elektra
are restrained and spiritual rather than heroic. Along with the absence of a
true heroine or superhero presence is the lack of significant or sustained
muscularity. Whenever a rhythm worthy of ass-kicking is established by Beck
(such as in the
Underworld-like sequence of "Insomnia"), that rhythm
abruptly halts before you can truly enjoy it.
The martial arts sequences make strong use of Beck's highly
creative sampling and weaving of electronic bass rhythms and live
percussion. This percussion can, at times, test the patience of the
listener, especially when the volume and pace of the music is at full
throttle. The score has a tendency towards degenerating into an
overly-layered mess at times, sometimes with electric bass that will test
the capabilities of your subwoofers. But a cue such as "Gnarly Gongs" rocks
the room with its outstanding percussive mix, and there are moments
throughout when a distant toll of bells or chimes adds a distinctly
intriguing fog to the score's other layers. Distant voices, distorted
intentionally, remind at times of Mychael Danna's ambient designs. A sound
design best described as a Muslim prayer call in "Stick" makes for a
particularly fascinating cue (perhaps even the highlight of the score).
Brass tone mutilation in "Kirigi" is naturally more difficult to enjoy apart
from the villain's on-screen presence, and some of Beck's work does wear on
the nerves with its occasional overextension into the realm of the bizarre.
With a tame orchestral cue at the end (a woodwind cue that finally shows us
a more human side than the rest of the score allows), as well as one
somewhat half-hearted performance of the title theme in the final seconds
(...were the performers simply not inspired that day?), the album leaves you
wondering if you actually heard a coherent score or simply a rambunctious,
eccentric explosion of wandering sound design theory. It's an interesting
work, and any artist should be commended for venturing into new experimental
realms, but just a tad too much of the heroine part was sacrificed in the
process of enhancing the soundscape. This score album follows a song album
released the same week as the film, but it's hard to pinpoint exactly who
will enjoy this irregular, experimental work.
***
The insert includes a list of players, but no extra information about the score or film.
