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The Interpreter

Composed, Co-Orchestrated, and Co-Produced by:
James Newton Howard
Conducted and Co-Orchestrated by:
Pete Anthony
Co-Produced by:
Jim Weidman
James T. Hill
Co-Orchestrated by:
Jeff Atmajian
Brad Dechter
Performed by:
Hollywood Studio Symphony
Vocal Performances by:
Kirsten Braten Berg


Label:
Varèse Sarabande
Release Date:
April 19th, 2005


Also See:

The Fugitive
Devil's Advocate


Audio Clips:

6. Drowning Man Trail (0:32), 160K interpreter6.ra

9. Simon's Journals (0:32), 161K interpreter9.ra

12. Zuwanie Arrival at UN (0:30), 150K interpreter12.ra

14. End Credits (0:29), 146K interpreter14.ra



Availability:

  Regular U.S. release.


Awards:

  None.









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The Interpreter


Audio | Availability | Viewer Ratings | Tracks | Viewer Comments | Notes & Quotes
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  Sales Rank: 165568

  Avg. Rating: 4.00

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Filmtracks Recommends:

Buy it... if you appreciate the fine details of any score for a political thriller, especially one with significant ethnic undertones.

Avoid it... if extended sequences of sound design and untethered percussive rumblings aren't worth ten minutes of truly interesting action and thematic development near the end.



Filmtracks Editorial Review:

Howard
The Interpreter: (James Newton Howard) If there is any one genre of film which consistently provides for a better viewing on screen than a listening on album, it's the modern political thriller. It's been a while since respected director Sydney Pollack dove into this genre, but with his similar films of fine quality extending all the way back to Three Days of the Condor, there's always much promise in these ventures. The setting of The Interpreter exists at the United Nations in New York and involves a fictional country based on real-life dictators and political environments in the African nation of Zimbabwe. A U.N. interpreter from that nation overhears a plot to assassinate its leader, and plunges her (and the American secret service agents who help her) into a potentially explosive international event. With a tale of quality and the characters (i.e. acting talent) to back it up, The Interpreter has been hailed as a project at par (if not above) with Pollack's established quality of operation. A difficult element to judge in these films, however, is the respective score for each thrilling film, because the music for films like The Interpreter is often more atmospheric by demand rather than something larger than the film itself. Not a surprise at all is the fact that composer James Newton Howard landed on this project, for he is well versed in the two major necessities for The Interpreter; first, the occasional tendency of this music to reside in mostly dark corners of the film is something Howard has exhibited before, and secondly, Howard has also proven his ability in providing the ethnic flair that a score for The Interpreter could well use to its benefit. Howard accomplishes this ethnicity through African vocals and a wide range of percussion from half a dozen percussionists alone. While the African influence on the score for The Interpreter never explodes with the same outward expression as any score with Lebo M. performances, per se, Howard does impress by providing any such ethnicity at all; it's a move that saves his score from total obscurity and could very easily have been neglected (to the detriment of the film).

Employing a decently sized Hollywood Studio Symphony, Howard doesn't aim to capture attention with either thematic or other motif-based structure. In fact, the presence of African drum rhythms, often combined with synthetic sounds of metal tingling, rambles throughout the score at various levels of intensity and provides the only really necessary, minimal continuity between the parts. Despite the size of the orchestral ensemble, Howard does not allow the ethnic rhythms to combine with the full force of the orchestra until the highlight cue, "Zuwanie Arrival at U.N.," for which Howard provides a crescendo of harmonic chord progressions at thrilling heights and pounding rhythms as we witness the targeted African leader weave through New York in a motorcade. It's interesting to note that Howard pulled the same crescendo of gusto for Devil's Advocate in a similarly heightened New York street scene. At other times in the score, Howard's use of the African percussion for the purposes of suspense are of interest; in "Silvia Showers," your spine will tingle as if an African animal hunt were in progress. At other times, however, as in the prolonged opening cue, Howard's textures are too minimally constructed with ambient sound design to really appreciate alone. Several such cues follow, unfortunately allowing some instrumental development for characters to become washed away in the lull. Slight motifs for piano and clarinet haunt the primary characters as they investigate and are investigated, though none of these moments will grab your attention. Distant African vocals do spice up a few of these cues; the "Simon's Journals" cue offers a pleasant harmonic combination of the vocals and ensemble. Howard adapts the traditional African hymn "Atolago" into several cues, and it is, not surprisingly, the most memorable thematic element in the score. With a respectful debut in "Drowning Man Trail," the theme is part of Howard's end credits, a cue that beautifully summarizes all of the score's ideas with the vocals, strings, guitar, and piano. Slight hints of The Sixth Sense float in the piano performances. Like The Fugitive, the end title cue is a thematic culmination that finally conveys a satisfying sense of resolution, but along the same lines, some could easily argue that The Interpreter is also like The Fugitive in that it could still have been a better structured score for a superior film. Overall, Howard's The Interpreter does spend significant time languishing the unexciting depths of sound design and untethered solo instrumentals, but the "Zuwanie Arrival at U.N." and "End Credits" cues, along with several short bursts of percussion and satisfying vocal haunts throughout, will be a delight for any fan of political thrillers. ***

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   Viewer Ratings and Comments:



   Track Listings:
Total Time: 45:06

    • 1. Matobo (8:24)
    • 2. Silvia is Followed (1:22)
    • 3. Tobin Comes Home (2:19)
    • 4. Silvia's Background (1:03)
    • 5. Philippe (1:27)
    • 6. Drowning Man Trail (Atolago) (1:44)
    • 7. Guy Forgot his Lunch (3:02)
    • 8. The Phonecall (1:08)
    • 9. Simon's Journals (3:05)
    • 10. Silvia Showers (2:51)
    • 11. Did He Leave a Note? (3:55)
    • 12. Zuwanie Arrival at UN (6:01)
    • 13. Assassin (4:14)
    • 14. End Credits (Atolago) (4:13)




   Notes and Quotes:

    The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film.







All artwork and sound clips from The Interpreter are Copyright © 2005, Varèse Sarabande. 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 4/27/05, updated 4/30/05. Review Version 4.2 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2005-2008, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved.