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Conducted by:
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David Snell
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Release Date:
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December, 2003
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Availability:
Promotional release by the studios only. Dozens of copies flooded online auction houses upon its introduction, keeping its value below $50 in many cases.
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Sorry, there are no commercial ordering options for this title. However, you can
search for this title at the soundtrack specialty outlets listed on the Filmtracks Links Page. |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you're a sucker for every variation on that light and
occasionally exuberant Rachel Portman thematic non-diversity.
Avoid it... if the perfect chick score for a chick flick, lead by
Portman's trademark strings, woodwinds, and piano, offers nothing to hold
your interest.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Portman | |
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Mona Lisa Smile: (Rachel Portman) After spending a few
years finally branching out into genres of films not present in her typecast
career up to 2000, Rachel Portman falls very comfortably right back into the
realm of fluffy chick flick scores. If the story of Mona Lisa Smile
seems like an all too familiar feminine adaptation of the "outsider teacher
breaking conservative school norms to enlighten and progressively guide
stifled, young, rich students" mold, then you'd agree with many of the
critics who generally brushed the film aside. The project is, in many ways,
a gender-reversed version of Dead Poets Society and half a dozen
other similar films about conservative boarding schools, and director Mike
Newell (who is set to tackle the upcoming Harry Potter and the Goblet of
Fire) worked to exceed audiences expectations by inserting several
Academy Award caliber actresses into the cast. As a result, the film was
finely crafted, but ultimately left audiences with the "why bother" question
and Mona Lisa Smile slipped through theatres without much of a
struggle. Part of the overwhelming representation of sappy, conservative
1950's life in the film is established by the music used to confidently
paint that often majestic picture. In between songs of the era --ranging
from traditional to a more defiant collection of 'modern' cover versions--
is an equally all too familiar, pleasant score by Rachel Portman. To see
Portman's name attached to this film warranted an immediate "well, of
course" kind of reaction, and her talents are indeed perfectly suited for
the lush campus of a 1950's female boarding school. While the film does have
its emotional ups and downs, it maintains a steady course of guarded
optimism, and if Portman scores any kind of emotion better than all others,
it is optimism. Men beware: if Mona Lisa Smile sounds like chick
flick that would bore you to death, then be prepared for a score equal to
that task. In every way possible, Portman's music for the film is
appropriate and heartening, flowing with ease in between steady statements
of an uncomplicated Portman theme. But unless you are a sucker for every
variation on that light and occasionally exuberant Portman thematic
non-diversity, then Mona Lisa Smile will drive you nuts.
This time around, Portman shapes a theme that mostly
resembles that of The Cider House Rules (for which her theme was
still fresh enough to garner an Academy Award nomination), with a few swings
of rhythm from The Legend of Bagger Vance. At this point, most score
collectors know to either run or keep reading, because if you have any
problems with repetition of the same theme over and over again, then Mona
Lisa Smile will, once again, drive you nuts. Strings and woodwinds are
accompanied by the usual piano, with no depth this time from percussion or
brass. As per formula, the strings perform the sweeping main theme, the
woodwinds offer their renditions of that theme during the majority of the
underscore, and the piano wanders in and out of a few secondary ideas during
moments of heavy dialogue. The few troubled moments in the film are scored
with very simple, off-key whole notes for the strings, and the entire
project is supported in the bass regions by bass strings, and, keeping in
character, the lower woodwind instruments. The lack of emotional range in
Mona Lisa Smile will lower your opinion of the score even if you
survive the repetitive nature of the whole construct; the most disturbing
moments in the score (late on the album: "Betty Challenges Katherine" and
"Why Couldn't You Let Me By Happy?") usually succumb to a lofty, major key
performance of theme after a minute or two. Then again, despite all this
criticism, it's important to remember that Portman wrote a pretty and
effective theme and score for this film, and you accept the faults of the
film when hearing its equally sappy music. For Portman fans, cues such as
"Bike Ride" and "We Will Never Forget You" feature a lush string theme
strong enough to stand among her best, and these cues are a relief from a
commercial album for Mona Lisa Smile that only featured a suite from
her score (after the obligatory cover songs from the period). An
unsuccessful bid for an Oscar nomination led to a 30+ minute score-only
promo from the several studios involved, offering more than enough simple
beauty from the score to refresh any Portman collector. Overall, you really
do have to be such a Portman fan to enjoy the album in full, but any casual
fan will likely enjoy the three or four main statements of that same old
Portman theme. ***
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Opening Titles (2:00)
• 2. Betty Goes to Joan at Night (2:24)
• 3. Amanda is Dismissed (1:33)
• 4. Jackson Pollock (3:19)
• 5. Bike Ride (3:49)
• 6. Giselle Waits for Bill (2:19)
• 7. The Roles You Were Born to Fill (1:34)
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• 8. Betty Challenges Katherine (3:54)
• 9. We Will Never Forget You (2:18)
• 10. Why Couldn't You Let Me By Happy? (1:53)
• 11. Katherine's First Lecture (1:39)
• 12. Paul Leaves (2:08)
• 13. End Credits (2:36)
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There is no packaging other than a front and back slip with basic information on them. A similarly styled "Best Song" promo was issued concurrently with some songs from the film.
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