Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you are an avid collector of Jerry Goldsmith's works and appreciate even the less engaging and sparse variations of his light string, woodwind, and synthesizer tones. Avoid it... if you require sustained performances of action rhythms or harmonic sensitivity in your Goldsmith music, or if you shared in the widely publicized political protests against the film. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Not Without My Daughter: (Jerry Goldsmith) Unintentionally, the MGM film Not Without My Daughter turned out to be a heavily anti-Muslim statement released just days before the United States and its allies invaded Iraq the first time in 1991. An intensely personal drama, the film tells the true story of Betty Mahmoody, an average American woman who married an Iranian man employed at the local hospital in the States. Set in 1984, the husband takes his wife (and their young daughter) on a two-week vacation to Iran, where he suddenly beats her and announces that they will never be returning to the United States. Trapped in a foreign culture that minimizes womens' rights, the mother is forced to smuggle herself and her daughter out of Iran and into Turkey with the help of an underground network of Western sympathizers. The storyline is compelling and made for fine drama, but the film had two major problems working against it during its initial release. First, its depiction of Muslims is truly disturbing, portraying them as crazed fundamentalists and the true enemies of 'infidels.' Secondly, the film, as mentioned before, opened nationally on January 11, 1991, only a few days before President Bush's deadline for war in the Middle East. Perhaps because of the timing of the project, the film failed miserably in the theatres. But it was still the source of controversy from Muslim-advocacy groups who claimed that the film's use of non-English language without subtitles, vicious and dirty Iranian characters, and unyielding malice shown towards a white woman are all gross misrepresentations of real Iranian sentiment, even during the heaviest religious rule of Iran in the 1980's. At any rate, with so many aspects of the production coming under attack for being 'propaganda,' it's interesting to wonder where Jerry Goldsmith's score falls into this debate. This would be the only collaboration between Goldsmith and director Brian Gilbert, and the project followed an outstanding year of output in 1990 for the legendary composer. His score for Not Without My Daughter, if you want to throw it into the aforementioned debate, does reinforce the reasons for protests against the film. The music can indeed be reduced to a good-versus-evil kind of descriptor, because Goldsmith makes no attempt whatsoever, like the film, to musically portray the Iranian culture in a positive (or even interesting) light. The moment the story hits the ground in Iran, Goldsmith hits the electronic distortion (a la Legend) and machine drums and doesn't look back until the conclusion of the mother and daughter's escape. As a political statement, the score therefore suffers from the same criticism leveled at the film. It's clearly a black and white score with little middle ground, and this clear distinction is embodied by the two themes that Goldsmith devises for the score and orchestrates in vastly different ways. First, the sensitive string and piano theme for the mother and daughter inhabit the opening and closing portions of the film. It's not one of Goldsmith's ultra-pretty, small-scale themes (like the one from Love Field, for instance), but could be classified at the same memorability level as, perhaps, Angie. The theme is mutated significantly in troublesome fragments throughout the middle portion of the score as the mother's realization of entrapment is reflected thematically. The second theme represents the culture of Iran, or maybe the husband more specifically. Its instrumentation consists of harsh electronics in the absence of brass in the performing ensemble. At some points, an electronic rhythm is established at such a great pace that James Horner's Commando comes to mind ("School's Out"), with tom-toms and faked exotic percussion all utilized to their fullest volume. In the darkest moments, the mutated sound of a water droplet at extremely low pitch ranges matches the psychological fear on screen. Throughout its length, the score alternates between hints of the sensitive primary idea for strings and this Iranian theme of despair for synthesizers. Goldsmith curiously chose not to utilize instruments native to Iran, though the electronics in their place do function as an alienating factor. As a listening experience, the primary "home" theme makes an attractive string appearance in the final cue (with the standard light tingling of Goldsmith's electronics), and that finale cue has a strong representation of both halves of the score over the end credits. For many listeners, this final six-minute cue will be the only necessary inclusion in a collection, even if it's weighty with Goldsmith entries. Some questionable mixing exists throughout, especially when the strings yield to a piano mixed at far too low a gain in that last cue. An album was released by Edel and Silva Screen in Europe and Intrada in America in 1991 (with identical contents). A 2008 pressing of the complete score by La-La Land Records was limited to 3,000 copies and adds five minutes of material as well as a few unrelated source pieces. A twenty minute suite of the recording with woodwinds taking the place of the synthesizers (an alternate recording mix of major cues) is interesting, but not worth the price of the album. Only the true Goldsmith completist will have much interest in any of the adequate albums of this underwhelming score. ** Track Listings (1991 Intrada Album):
Total Time: 35:22
Track Listings (2008 La-La Land Album):
Total Time: 63:40
All artwork and sound clips from Not Without My Daughter are Copyright © 1991, 2008, Intrada Records, La-La Land Records. 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 6/1/98, updated 7/12/09. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 1998-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
1991 Intrada