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Once Upon a Time in Mexico on DVD
• Music commentary • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Once Upon a Time in Mexico on DVD
• Music commentary • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you're not afraid to hear one of the best Spanish-flavored score and song compilations in recent times. Avoid it... if Mexican songs, like Mexican food, give you heartburn. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The film is rich with Spanish melodies, ranging from traditional vocal songs to more techno-influenced modern entries. Rodriguez's score fills the gaps in between these source songs, and underscores key action sequences in the plot. The spirit of the songs and score in Once Upon a Time in Mexico go hand in hand. Score collectors should be aware the songs are just as much of the attraction on album as the score. For Rodriguez's part, the score is an orchestral extension of the songs, with traditional Spanish elements mixed in for the appropriate flavor. His first two score cues, "Eye Patch" and "Guitar Town" are so well balanced between this ethnic style and the orchestral power that they are among the most enjoyable cues of 2003 so far. Unlike imitations that are often aimed at capturing the same dusty taste of Mexican folklore, Rodriguez hits the nail right on the head, producing music that is as authentic as it can get, while also making its harmony such that American ears can enjoy it as well. Acoustic guitars, a solo male voice, a distant electric guitar, castanets, and other percussive elements build up to a glorious Western showdown in "Guitar Town." It's a cue that is perfect in its portrayal of El Mariachi's task, always staying a step ahead of cliche. In the following score cue, "Church Shooting," Rodriguez proves that he can write stimulating action music with flamenco rhythms and pull off a rocking shootout while also maintaining that dancing, Spanish style. Later cues are more generic in their orchestral handling, with some impressive action underscoring and occasional electric guitar accompaniment, yielding to a solo acoustic guitar cue for the title character at the end. The score is often punctuated by cool choices of Western instrumentation from above and below the border, with a tolling bell signaling a cue for an on screen duel. The songs are often very enjoyable, easy-going expressions of lost love, although Juno Reactor's "Pistolero" fits surprisingly well with the attitude of the film's action score cues (think of it as a sort of Matrix Reloaded gone South). Following her performance in Frida, Salma Hayek performs the most noteworthy song near the end of the album with both elegance and a snappy spirit. As a soundtrack album, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is blessed by an excellent overall choice of songs to include on the album, with a defiant, but romantic tilt to many of them. If the album has a weakness, it is a varying mixing quality between some of the songs. None of them have a distant, traditional sound quality, but they do vary in reverberation from song to song. The Rodriguez score selections are also spaced in between the songs; usually, this drives score fans nuts, but in this case, the strength and complete relevance of the songs eases the situation to a great degree. Interspersed throughout the score are also several quotes from the film, some of which are classical El Mariachi entries. At the end of the sixth track, the Banderas line "...I guess I have no choice but to kill you all" is an undeniable favorite. The quotes do not interfere with the music, and often exist at the end of score tracks once the cue ends. Overall, Once Upon a Time in Mexico is perhaps the most accessible Mexican action album to hit stores in ten years. If you take serious, dramatic items like Frida out of the equation, then Once Upon a Time in Mexico takes the prize with its precise balance between orchestral and acoustic sounds. Not to mention, of course, that it kicks some serious butt when it needs to... just like El Mariachi himself. ****
The insert includes notes from Robert Rodriguez about the score and film. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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