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Into Thin Air: Death on Everest: (Lee Holdridge)
The commercialization of expeditions to the top of Mount Everest was the
starting point of journalist Jon Krakauer's best-selling book on which
this 1997 television film was based. Accompanying one of two competing
groups attempting the treacherous climb, Krakauer would narrate how
everything would eventually go wrong. Because the experienced guides
would try to accommodate anybody willing to pay enough to be led to the
top of the mountain, many unprepared people would make the journey. On
this particular trip, with the help of some storms, five members of the
teams would die. The story was unfortunately too long to be translated
into an effective television film, with only 90 minutes of total length
and significant numbers of fades for commercial breaks hindering the
flow of the depiction. Critics and viewers seemed widely divided about
the merits of film, though Sony would eventually release it on DVD. With
poor development of the characters, the mountain becomes the primary
character (despite the film being shot in Austria). The visuals and
sound mixing were highly acclaimed, often compared to the IMAX feature
Everest. One of the film's better qualities is the large-scale
score by veteran television film composer Lee Holdridge, whose career
was beginning to pick up in recognition in the late 1990's. While
Into Thin Air: Death on Everest didn't prove to propel Holdridge
over the top and into a flurry of theatrical films (as some had hoped),
the score still stands on its own as one of the composer's most
respected compositions. Holdridge collectors are familiar with the
composer's competent ability to coin romantic or tragic themes for the
dramatic genre of stories. To some degree,
Into Thin Air: Death on
Everest would utilize some of these sounds, but moreso than other
Holdridge scores released on album, this one is distinctively on edge.
It is a suspense score more than anything else, and it is based
primarily upon a series of staggered rhythms meant to represent the
equally staggered pace of the climbers as they move upwards (and
downwards).
Holdridge states that the initial inspiration he had
for the film was the jagged series of notes at the very outset of the
score that establish a rhythmic motif to represent the perils of the
journey. The same rhythms inhabit most of the major climbing scenes,
adapted to different scenes by the intensity of their performances. The
fully orchestral ensemble is aided by daiko drums and a pounding piano
in the low ranges for appropriate fright. A slight element of dissonance
is inherent in these progressions, and they're not readily listenable on
album for extended sequences. For moments of tragedy, the ensemble drops
the rhythm but maintains some of the disharmony; there are a limited
number of standard horror hits that the score nails you with
periodically. The appeal of the score for most listeners will be the two
other major themes developed by Holdridge. First, the victory theme is
presented during vista shots at the opening and closing of the film. It
is also one of the composer's most grandiose career statements, gracing
the scenes involving the summit of the mountain. A gong is utilized
during many of the key moments in this theme to accentuate a sense of
accomplishment. A gentle subtheme heard in "Sarah" and "Lost Friends" is
more in tune with the usual Holdridge sound, providing an opportunity
for solo piano and woodwinds to present simple, pleasant ideas. The
title theme is given similar treatment in "Epilogue." On album, the
score presents a generous 45 minutes of music, more than enough to
represent the story. Holdridge was proud to say that he deviated from
normal recording practices when recording
Into Thin Air: Death on
Everest, opting to skip some of the usual mixing process to provide
the listener with the same raw sound that he or she would have
experienced in the studio. While this approach is relatively unique in
today's industry, the casual listener will not hear much of a
difference; the overall sound quality is closely rendered and lacking
nearly any reverberation. As for the score itself, Holdridge has written
more vivacious action themes before, though his "victory/summit" theme
for
Into Thin Air: Death on Everest is easily among his best
achievements. The somewhat rare Citadel album will likely please his
collectors without fail.
****
| Bias Check: | For Lee Holdridge reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.75 (in 13 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.64
(in 6,411 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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