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The Russia House: (Jerry Goldsmith) If a single
film and score could define the word "bittersweet" better than any
other,
The Russia House would be the champion example. The
potentially explosive adaptation of John LeCarre's novel needs no
introduction to the concepts of depression and oppression, and despite
the story's famously distraught conclusion, audiences were seemingly
unprepared for either the gloom of the film or the distorted and
confusing ending of the adaptation. The film fell short of all
expectations at the time, though the lead performances by Sean Connery
and Michelle Pfeiffer were well enough praised. The espionage story was
the first major American production ever to be shot on location in the
former Soviet Union, with a sharp, somewhat technological edge driving
its fear factor. Perhaps the most critical element of
The Russia
House is its extremely memorable score by Jerry Goldsmith, a score
with about as much frustration and depression built into the
circumstances of its creation as the story of
The Russia House
itself. Goldsmith first conjured the beautiful theme for this film in
1987 for
Wall Street, but when he left that film due to creative
differences with the filmmakers, he adapted the theme into his
electronic score for
Alien Nation the following year. Being that
the 1988 alien/cop drama was so wretchedly awful, however, Goldsmith
wasn't particularly disappointed when his score was completely rejected
from the finished product. His bold and longing love theme for
Alien
Nation was realized in that film's cue "The Wedding," but never did
it truly take flight until it was altered slightly (improving its
romantic flow in three places) and handed to an accomplished jazz trio
for
The Russia House in 1990. Goldsmith's approach to the genuine
locale was countered by an interestingly American approach to scoring
the visuals, infusing a slight edge of old-style noir into the picture.
He took a chance by composing an almost exclusively jazzy score,
building off of the Barley (Connery) character's performance of the
saxophone in the film.
To address the concept of espionage, and not to mention
Connery himself, Goldsmith inserts a slight touch James Bond's
mechanical instrumentation, making restrained, but smart use of his
library of synthetic rhythm-setters. To address the danger of the
romance, he offers us a glimpse of the ominously nervous strings that we
would eventually hear in full for
Basic Instinct. The most
surprising aspect of the score for
The Russia House is its
simplicity in instrumentation and repetition. It's hard to imagine how a
score of this minuscule size and scope could be so overwhelming in its
appeal. That might say something about Goldsmith's raw talent, and
perhaps it speaks to three years of development on the concepts. His
base elements are simple; a jazz trio handles the majority of the themes
and underscore, with saxophone performances by Branford Marsalis (both
scripted and improvised) that are nothing short of spectacular. Never
once does he quiver unintentionally or even slightly miss a note.
Perfection is bliss. Michael Lang is equally renown for his fabulous
piano performances, and he delicately establishes an elevated level of
classy bar room atmosphere for Marsalis' sax. The bass, performed by
John Patitucci, has a larger role in the score, not only providing a
rhythm for the other two jazz performers, but also handling a large
portion of the underscore. It is during these sequences with the bass
that Goldsmith utilizes his electronics to his fullest. With his
knowledge of synthesized integration having matured since the
experimental days of
Legend and
Hoosiers, Goldsmith's
electronics are almost identically appealing in both the concurrent 1990
releases of
Total Recall and
The Russia House. The James
Bond aspect of the spy tale called for the presence of mechanized
subterfuge, and thus, the use of Goldsmith's wide array of synthesized
sounds keeps a consistent rhythm set throughout the score. Most of these
sounds are common, light, upper-range, chime-like keyboarding from
Goldsmith's library, though the incorporation of a "release of air"
effect is unique to this score.
Not always are the solo bass and electronics geared
towards suspense, though. The third element of Goldsmith's score is the
reasonably sized string section, which is added to provide a whimsical
effect for the grand, romantic performances of the title theme (this
could also just be a smaller string ensemble simply mixed over itself...
it doesn't matter either way). During these moments, the electronics
cease their systematic beats and blossom into chimes and twinkles. No
better of an example exists than the finale of the film, when the
dream-like "The Family Arrives" sequence provides a false sense of hope
at an otherwise doomed finish to the story. During these elegant
performances of Goldsmith's cherished theme, the sax, strings, and piano
rotate in their pronouncement of the theme, with all three together
occasionally blowing the listener away with stunning aural beauty (such
as "Bon Voyage"). Over half of the score, though, consists of the
suspenseful underscore previously mentioned, with the bass and
electronics leading the way. Goldsmith throws in two more elements
during these sequences. First, some very light percussion, crisply
recorded, keeps the film moving at a pre-set tempo. To do this,
Goldsmith integrates the clicking of a metronome (the device by which
instrument performers set their tempo in practice) right into the scheme
of the recording. Only a snippet of traditional jazz band percussion is
used, such as the light cymbal tapping during the faster rhythmic
opening to "Training." Assessing the need for a slight Soviet influence
on the score, Goldsmith also composes for the duduk and balalaika, the
former being an Armenian instrument that will sound, to the common American
ear, like a low, fluttering woodwind instrument. These elements are combined well
with Goldsmith's American jazz, leading to a very smooth and listenable
hour of music. The duduk is employed in a creative way so that it almost
sounds as though it's a naturally lower progression of the sax,
increasing both instruments' emotional range at moments like the end of
"The Meeting." Cues that merge these woodwind sounds, as well as the
metronome and synthetics, with some slight improvisation from the lead
trio (such as in "Crossing Over") are a delight.
In sum, Goldsmith's music for
The Russia House
is the type that you wish you could hear every time you go into an
upscale bar. It is friendly, yet mysterious. It is smoky, yet crystal
clear. It is vibrant, yet lulls you to a different place. Its recording
quality is so crisp that Marsalis' sax bounces off the walls with
remarkable clarity. The monotony of its underwhelming construct is
compensated for by the sheer talent of its performers and the constant
sense of movement that Goldsmith's rhythms use to maintain your
interest. In these regards,
The Russia House is the ultimate
"homework score," a description used by career students who have spent
countless hours researching and writing to this music. The vocal version
of Goldsmith's theme, performed in the song "Alone in the World" by
Patti Austin, melts wonderfully into the center of the album. The song's
arrangement and instrumentation by Goldsmith is consistent with the
surrounding underscore. Aside from the recognizable Goldsmithian
electronics and some minor key bass string movements teasing later
development in
Basic Instinct, this score is like nothing
composed by any other major film composer in the last twenty years.
Other composers have tried to score films with the same emphasis on
jazz, but none has succeeded with the same class and sense of style as
Goldsmith accomplished. To that end, traditional Goldsmith fans might
not warm up to
The Russia House at first. But it has become a
legend within the film score industry, a favorite score for several
leading composers still working today, with similar praise extended from
fans all over the world. Goldsmith's love affair with the final track of
The Russia House (the ultimate highlight of the album, for which
he allowed the trio of jazz musicians to improvise over seven minutes of
material, leading to an enjoyably snazzy conclusion for the album) that
he would reprise the sound almost identically in his underrated 1993
score for
The Vanishing (though curiously out of place and not as
crisp in sound). He would also touch upon the basics of the style at the
end of 1997's
The Edge.
Even on its addictively attractive album, however,
The Russia House still caused frustration for Goldsmith himself.
Not only was his theme unwanted for no less than two films, but the MCA
album, as presented, was unwanted by the composer as well. It's a
classic example of how many composers wish to maintain control over the
presentation of their works outside of their intended film use. Perhaps
the ultimate irony of Goldsmith's quest to narrow down the length of the
album for
The Russia House is that neither of the other two
scores featuring versions of its themes (
Alien Nation and
The
Vanishing) would receive commercial albums, both relying instead on
bootlegs and eventual Varèse Sarabande club treatment. Goldsmith
disapproved of the MCA Records album because it presented the mass of
the music from the film intact. Many people will argue alongside
Goldsmith that
The Russia House would make a fantastic 30-minute
album. But MCA, in this case, got it right. There are nuances in this
score that make every moment one of intrigue. If you cut out all of the
duduk ethnicity and bass string suspense, you'd be left with the dozen
renditions of the love theme, and one of the great aspects of the score
in its entirety is its ability to bring one of those lush thematic
statements at just the right moment of lonely despair. Many reviewers
will be deterred by the length of the album, overlooking the profound
impact that an understated score like this can have on its film, and
many fans will comment that the score is simply too depressing to enjoy
on a bright sunny afternoon. But elegance comes in many forms, and the
music from
The Russia House, while perfect for the shadows of
midnight despair, is a score that anyone (and especially a Goldsmith
enthusiast) should be able to appreciate at any hour. The score came
during a fantastic year for film music, but while John Barry's
Dances
With Wolves, Danny Elfman's
Edward Scissorhands, and Basil
Poledouris'
The Hunt for Red October, among others, drew more
public attention, the quality of
The Russia House exceeds all of
them. The difference is
style.
***** Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.26 (in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.32
(in 133,461 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. Sean Connery is not really playing the sax himself in the film.
