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Trumpet/Flugelhorn Solos by:
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Malcolm McNab
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Orchestrated by:
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Arthur Morton
Alexander Courage
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Release Date:
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November 25th, 1997
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Awards:
Nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, 1997.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you admire the tension of Jerry Goldsmith's highly
rhythmic and brutally percussive scores of the 1970's.
Avoid it... if you expect the seductive noir elements to convince
you of the era or if you have little patience for Goldsmith's stock 90's
action structures.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Goldsmith | |
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L.A. Confidential: (Jerry Goldsmith) The triumph of
his career at the time, director Curtis Hanson's L.A.
Confidential was a critical favorite going into the 1997 awards
season. His adaptation of James Ellroy's novel is intelligent and
engaging, and the film is shot in a distinctly fantastic noir style.
It's a classic Hollywood police corruption tale, with an array of
different cops, each with his own style, investigating a mob-related
massacre with the simmering intensity that fulfills its promise of a
definitive shootout at the end. To accompany the strong acting ensemble
and vivid color contrast of the film's atmosphere, Hanson selected
several songs from the era to punctuate the noir feel in many of his
scenes. The common thread of these songs was the Chet Baker style of
sultry, night club jazz that John Barry would imitate so well a few
years later in Playing by Heart. But L.A. Confidential is
a film with extraordinary tension, and the lounge atmosphere addressed
by the songs in conversational scenes cannot translate to the edgier
side of the story. For his score, Hanson approached his collaborator on
The River Wild, Jerry Goldsmith, to connect the dots between the
source songs and provide the necessary action. More specifically, Hanson
asked Goldsmith to "magically" weave them all together. Goldsmith had
been experiencing one of the busiest periods of his career in the
mid-1990's, a time when he would have so many projects that he was
forced to collaborate with others, a process he would eventually vow to
avoid. His numerous action scores of the era were more thematically bold
than the equally charged, but more atonal efforts of the 1970's. At the
same time, though, many of Goldsmith's 90's action scores, and
particularly the ones for films of lesser quality, were defined by their
anonymity and regurgitation of stock Goldsmith constructs.
Interestingly, L.A. Confidential features traits of both the
1970's style and some of the non-descript action of the 90's, likely
leaving the composer's fans of either period somewhat annoyed. Still,
L.A. Confidential gained Goldsmith nominations from the Golden
Globes and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, though he could
not compete with James Horner's Titanic for either award.
Regardless of the score's technical merits, Goldsmith
succeeds in producing a very dark and mysterious film noir accompaniment
for the songs, made complete by several trumpet solos to reflect those
songs. The score is surprisingly urgent, featuring the creepy, low piano
rumblings that worked in Basic Instinct and synthesized beats
resembling the John Williams style of sophisticated corruption in the
1990's. Thankfully, the electronic noises, because they are mixed at a
distance behind the constant trumpet and piano solos, do not break the
feeling of the period. The action scenes announce themselves with
extremely heavy percussion, highlighted by a prominent role for timpani.
The bombastic role of that instrument in "Bloody Christmas" will revive
memories of classic Goldsmith action from the days of Capricorn
One and The Wind and the Lion. The title theme and its
variants, almost always performed by trumpet, are somewhat limp, used
sporadically and often in minor fragments throughout the suspense cues.
Only in the opening and closing cues, as well as "Susan Leferts," does
the Chet Baker style really permeate the score with any success. As per
Goldsmith's usual 90's habits, the theme receives its best treatment at
the conclusion of the score, when the full ensemble accompanies the
trumpet in one final, redeeming rendition of the theme. And yet, the
score is extremely alienating; it attempts to draw you in with
comfortable, intimate tones while pushing you away with its lonely
suspense and faceless action rhythms. In the end, L.A.
Confidential is a cold piece of music, successful in its task, but
not entirely pleasant on album. The action music will not impress many
Goldsmith collectors (outside of "Bloody Christmas") tired of similar,
if not identical, music in concurrent efforts. The noir jazz, likewise,
is not substantial enough in length or harmonic allure to be convincing.
The CD release, as with many Varèse Sarabande releases of the
time, is less than 30 minutes long, which may offer further deterrent
for some potential buyers. In reality, though, L.A. Confidential
would not benefit from additional length on album, for its functional
patchwork of song-straddling cues never establishes enough of an
identity to enjoy for repeated listening. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Bloody Christmas (2:50)
• 2. The Cafe (2:20)
• 3. Questions (2:20)
• 4. Susan Lefferts (2:54)
• 5. Out of the Rain (2:47)
• 6. Rollo Tomasi (3:08)
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• 7. The Photos (2:28)
• 8. The Keys (1:52)
• 9. Shootout (4:09)
• 10. Good Lad (2:19)
• 11. The Victor (2:32)
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The insert contains a note from the director about the score, as well as biographical
information about Goldsmith. A song album for the film was released three months earlier and
includes only two tracks of Goldsmith music (both of which appear on the original score
release).
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