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| Zimmer |
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| Glennie-Smith |
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Lauras Stern (Laura's Star): (Hans Zimmer/Nick
Glennie-Smith/Henning Lohner) Slipping under the radar for most American
film score collectors in 2004 was
Lauras Stern, a German feature
animation scored by top-name composers. For Europeans, the story of
Laura's Star is well known; based on the wildly popular children's
book of the same name by author Klaus Baumgart, the lovable tale follows the
tender emotional journey of seven-year-old Laura as she adapts to her
family's move to the big city. Missing her garden and friends she left
behind in the countryside, Laura becomes a loner until one day a star falls
injured out of the sky. Communicating through its magical ability to make
her stuffed animals talk, the star teaches the girl how to fly while she, in
turn, helps mend its injuries. In the end, of course, the star has to go
back to the heavens, but the good cheer is a decent diversion for young
children in the audience. While the popularity of Baumgart's book could very
well have enticed the composers of the former Media Ventures group to flock
to
Lauras Stern, there is little else connecting this project to Hans
Zimmer specifically. The only major previous project by the writers and
producers of
Lauras Stern was the similarly popular animated German
film
The Little Polar Bear in 2001, which has no musical credit
connections to
Lauras Stern. No matter the circumstances, Hans
Zimmer, Nick Glennie-Smith, and Henning Lohner collaborated to write a
charming orchestral score to be performed by the German Filmorchestra of
Babelsberg in Berlin and featuring few of the characteristics that have
defined the composers in their years of work in America. The bulk of the
score's material is largely the work of Nick Glennie-Smith, whose simple but
lovely title theme for the primary character inhabits the majority of the
score. While the three composers split many writing duties from cue to cue,
their music maintains strong continuity from start to end. To say that
Lauras Stern is a lightweight and leave it at that would do some
injustice to the consistently pleasant quality of the score.
Glennie-Smith's primary theme is performed by woodwinds and
string in several cues, with the same sensitivity of James Horner's
children's writing of the early 1990's. Much of the lyricism in the simple
thematic construct of
Lauras Stern will remind you of
Once Upon a
Forest or
The Pagemaker in its sole focus on soothing the heart
of a child and imply a touch of magic in its instrumentation. While
resorting to some light prancing in a handful of circumstances,
Glennie-Smith's rhythms avoid the pitfalls of slapstick construction and
instead flow with the same woodwind and string dancing often heard in Rachel
Portman scores. Of the underscore cues, there really is no standout piece to
describe in any great depth, testimony to the score's fluid
conceptualization between the composers. As more of Henning Lohner's
contribution is heard in the latter half of the score, a strikingly
ambitious choral approach is provided for flying sequences. For American
listeners only familiar with Lohner due to his involvement with the
Ring films, there cannot be any greater of a contrast in style. The
contribution by Zimmer seems to exist in a secondary lullaby that is
introduced later in the score and is performed by solo cello in the final
track on the album (Zimmer's only solo credit). The score lacks the heavy,
neo-classical dramatic touch that often defines Zimmer's writing. While
Glennie-Smith's lovely title theme will likely maintain your interest in the
first half of that album, it is the grouping of cues with Lohner's work that
truly causes this score to fly with beauty. A suite forming the "Finale" cue
sums up Glennie-Smith's material and throws a performance of Zimmer's
lullaby in at the end. Two English-language songs performed by the girl-duo "Wonderwall" are
streamline pop injections, however the second song, "Touch the Sky," is
partially based on material by Zimmer and Glennie-Smith. The first is a tad
annoying, but the more relevant second one fits reasonably well with the
attitude of the score. On album,
Lauras Stern was released in two
forms in Europe by BMG/Warner. One album contains 14 tracks of underscore
with substantial dialogue, and that one is to be avoided. A 23-track score
and song album is free from dialogue and provides a very satisfying
selection for score collectors. Only available commercially in Europe,
American collectors will likely pay a premium import price for the album
(only through some online specialty shops). Overall,
Lauras Stern is
a spirited and pleasant surprise.
****
| Bias Check: | For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 2.96 (in 50 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 217,535 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert contains extensive credits in German, but includes no extra information about the score or film.
