Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you appreciate the melodramatic thematic sensibilities of Mark McKenzie's works, even if they tend to become redundant after twenty minutes. Avoid it... if you expect the flamenco elements, or any other part of this score, to truly take any chances. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca: (Mark McKenzie) It was with great passion that director Marcos Zurinaga examined the circumstances of the death of revered poet Garcia Lorca during the Spanish Civil War. Based on two books by Ian Gibson, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca makes its anti-Franco statement while also treating the subject of differing levels of respect for living and dead artists. The topic of the apparent assassination is explored against the backdrop of a narrative that involves a 14-year-old boy who meets Lorca shortly before he disappears. Many years later, after his family has moved to Puerto Rico, the grown boy returns to Franco's Spain to search for the truth about what happened to Lorca. Despite some moderate star power and a decent critical response, The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca failed to gain traction in theatres and has since disappeared itself. The project was one of many obscure entries for orchestrator Mark McKenzie, whose transition to the role of composer often produced enjoyable results even if the industry hadn't taken much notice. Working once again under strict time limitations, McKenzie had only a matter of a few weeks to integrate this highly passionate and ethnically tilted score into the film while battling challenging shifts in ensemble. The film required an extra level of emotion compared to many of the composer's other projects, as well as a specific ethnic identifier. McKenzie succeeds in the task, composing a deep and moving symphonic piece with flamenco influences that differ from anything else he had written in the 1990's. The resulting score is not only effectively melodramatic in the film, but also makes for an enjoyable album. As with his other scores, McKenzie's music for The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca is lush with theme, with never more than a few minutes passing before a statement of one of the three major themes returns. Those who enjoy the often powerful string performances in McKenzie's works will not be disappointed. In both the first two and last two tracks on album, as well as few selected cues in the middle, full concert-like performances of these melodies are the center of attention. There are drawbacks inherent to this redundant style of performance, however. This is indeed a score best represented by its concert arrangements of about 16 combined minutes. The remainder unfortunately does not vary much in tone. A writer for Boxoffice Magazine noticed the same trait, though went a little too far in stating in a review of the film that "an offputting score is simple-minded in its support." Another unfortunate aspect of the final recording is its inconsistency in its mix on album; due to the score's hectic recording schedule (the score was recorded haphazardly in three days with three different groups of players), the sound quality, as well as the quality of the performances themselves, sometimes varies noticeably from cue to cue. The most notable of these differences comes after the magnificent sound of the "I Sing His Elegance," after which "Five in the Shadow of the Afternoon" is a tad flat in depth and gravity by comparison. Still, individual performances assist in connecting the dramatic thematic statements by the full ensemble. Several lightly elegant piano and acoustic guitar performances highlight the score. To spice up the score with the Spanish flavor necessary to capture the spirit of the poet, McKenzie, after a perilous search (and a good story), found flamenco singer Manolo Segura. In the tracks "Main Title," "Blood of a Poet," "Death Calling" and "Lorca's Elegy," Segura provides a distinct sound that some might confuse with Native American chanting. The sound of three flamenco singers is actually the one performance tracked three times, a technique that McKenzie uses masterfully in his scores to compensate for smaller ensembles. On the whole, this score further demonstrated McKenzie's growing maturity in the art of composition at the time. Even though he maintained a healthy career as an orchestrator (especially for Danny Elfman), his scores in the latter half of the 1990's qualified him for better assignments that unfortunately never came. His achievements in the area of combining thematic development with a growing sense of ethnic form would become even greater with his 1999 score for Durango. A generous album release of The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca by Intrada Records may be somewhat redundant, but it's a must-have product for any McKenzie enthusiast. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 55:16
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