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Conducted by:
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David Snell
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Performed by:
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The City of Prague Philharmonic
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Release Date:
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September 20th, 2005
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if your interest could be captured by a significantly
ominous, minor key variation on Portman's usual string and woodwind
leanings.
Avoid it... if no variation on Portman's lush, upbeat styles (which
make an appearance here as well) will cause you to expand your
collection of her works.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Portman | |
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Oliver Twist: (Rachel Portman) Charles Dicken's
first full novel was published in 1838, and as such, Oliver Twist
is among the author's better known stories about early 19th-century
London. It has been put onto the big screen several times, including
most notably Sir David Lean's classic 1948 version and the Academy Award
winning musical adaptation of the stage hit Oliver! in 1968.
There are subthemes that not only connect the 2005 version by Roman
Polanski to his previous film, The Pianist, but also to the
director's own childhood. Polanski's intent in remaking Oliver
Twist once again was to place an emphasis on the humor and
eccentricities of the larger-than-life characters rather than get caught
up in the doom and gloom of the destitute side of life in London at
time. The usual score collaborator for Polanski, Wojciech Kilar, has
taken a leave of absence from film music, which is unfortunate, given
that Kilar's often dark sensibilities would seem to suit the Dickens
story quite well. If you immediately turn and see that romance-writing
veteran Rachel Portman has replaced Kilar, a certain amount of head
scratching is warranted. But if you take Polanski's words to heart (that
he wanted to make his Oliver Twist a profile of quirky
characters), then perhaps a more sinister variation on Portman's
Addicted to Love is exactly what's needed. Portman's career has
been steadily retaining its strength since her initial Academy Award win
almost a decade ago, with her first Emmy nomination coming earlier this
year and several feature scores that maintain the status quo of her
viability in Hollywood. While Oliver Twist hasn't proven to be
the success that Polanski always has the potential of producing,
Portman's score (performed with intent by the impressive City of Prague
Philharmonic) is predictably solid in its intended place. For experts of
Dickens' sour tales, the important thing to remember here is that
Polanski and Portman met Dickens in the middle, so the assignment is not
quite as awkward as one might first believe.
The opening sequences of London feature Portman's title
theme for Oliver Twist in the typical positive, fluid string
manner, and although this brighter vision of London might be more
appropriate for a Jane Austen story, Portman abandons this lighthearted
theme between the opening and closing cues. Structurally, this is the
same old Portman; she is capable of producing truly unique horror and
suspense music, as heard in The Manchurian Candidate last year and
especially The Truth About Charlie a few years earlier, but
that's not how she went about Oliver Twist. Her string and
woodwind sensibilities are intact, but think of this score as a
significantly heavier variation on Addicted to Love. The frenetic
action sequences in that comedy score have been turned into a dramatic
minor key the likes of which Portman hasn't shown us yet. Her preference
to operate in lengthy rhythmic sequences once again makes her music
appealing on album, even though she does her concerted best to provide
ominous tones throughout. From the eighth track on album, these rhythms
combine with a subtheme best described as the either the Fagan or "bad
Oliver" representation. Rooted in uncharacteristically strong bass
strings, Portman provides a simple, alternating theme in "The Robbery"
remarkably similar to the theme John Williams conjured for Lord
Voldemort in his first two Harry Potter efforts (and it goes all
the way back to Toto's title theme for Dune, if you want to
stretch it that far back). By the sixteenth cue on album, the woodwinds
have descended so far into the bass regions that the music is a barely
recognizable mutation of Portman's styles. A rousing, positive finale
pulls the score from these depths for fans of the syrupy Portman norm.
But the darker side of Portman is on display here, and her ventures into
the minor key with bass strings and bass bassoons are an intriguing
variant for fans tired of her usual upbeat writing. One significant flaw
is that she does not provide a recognizable maturation of any musical
idea for the boy himself, leaving the emotions of the story as a whole
as her inspiration. Despite critics' appraisal of Oliver Twist as
"the same old Portman," give the second half of the score a good listen
and you'll hear a worthy variation on that tune. ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Streets of London (2:01)
• 2. The Road to the Workhouse (3:03)
• 3. A Kind Old Woman (2:05)
• 4. Oliver Runs Away (2:31)
• 5. The Artful Dodger (1:49)
• 6. Fagin's Loot (2:55)
• 7. The Game (2:15)
• 8. Oliver Learns the Hard Way (5:39)
• 9. Watching Mr Brownlow's House (2:17)
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• 10. The Escape from Fagin (1:13)
• 11. Prelude to a Robbery (1:49)
• 12. The Robbery (5:09)
• 13. Toby and the Wounded Oliver (1:20)
• 14. Nancy's Secret Journey (2:29)
• 15. The Murder (2:28)
• 16. Wanted: Bill Sykes and a Fierce Dog (2:50)
• 17. The Death of Bill Sykes (6:12)
• 18. Newgate Prison (5:21)
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Insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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