Buy it... if you are predisposed to the derivative romantic style of John Barry's melodramatic scores of the era, for The Scarlet Letter is his last strong entry in that genre.

Avoid it... if even a robust darker half of this score, complete with brutal percussion sequences, cannot compensate for your lack of patience with Barry's broad themes.

Barry

The Scarlet Letter: (John Barry) If modern cinematic disasters are to be ranked on a list, this sorry entry would fit somewhere in the middle ranges of that dubious distinction. Accomplished director Roland Joffé decided, for some reason, to film only a loose adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic novel about 17th Century northeast American culture, complete with witchcraft, adultery, and the harsh realities of immigrant (and obviously womens') life at the time. Critics quickly pounded this film like a drum, with Demi Moore receiving the most brutal response starting many weeks before the film was even released. Those few people who actually subjected themselves to the film would find two partially redeeming elements: the cinematography and the score. The story of the music for The Scarlet Letter is just as disastrous as the film's overall production. Film scoring veteran Elmer Bernstein was hired to write and record a score, both of which he did. But, as was happening to Bernstein more and more often at the time, his impressive music was rejected (it was, along with a couple of other rejected works by the composer, eventually released as a limited Varèse Sarabande club set in 2008). Then, to everyone's surprise, European romance maestro Ennio Morricone was signed on to the project. To the horror of the filmmakers, though, Morricone turned in a demo tape of music he could provide for the film and it turned out to be a collection of Mediterranean-flavored themes from his previous scores. After Morricone's summary dismissal, the filmmakers desperately sought John Barry's services, since he had been a reliable historical romance writer and had been nominated for Academy Awards with Dances With Wolves and Chaplin in the few years prior. Barry, who was beginning to slow down in his production as he neared a retirement pace of output during the late 1990's, accepted and produced what would arguably be his last really strong score. With hints of Dances With Wolves and Raise the Titanic, Barry's The Scarlet Letter would be one final original romance piece before his career became hopelessly repetitive (and itself littered with similarly rendered, rejected works). Depending on your opinion of Barry's derivative styles, the 'A' in this case can either stand for "arduous" or "awe-inspiring."

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For knowledgeable listeners of John Barry's works, you'll note immediately that The Scarlet Letter is very typical of the man's later career styles. But with his works of the 1990's, you have to judge the effectiveness and listenability of that sound on just how much it derives from his previous scores. Rarely were new ideas flowing from the composer at the time. The broad scope of his strings, with conservatively accompanying brass and simple, harmonic counterpoint, is everywhere in The Scarlet Letter. It is a pleasant score from beginning to end, with romance as tonal and thematic as it gets. The love theme, arranged beautifully in "Love Scene," aches with dramatic lust and often (though probably unintentionally) repeats a few sensitive bars of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita. The saturation of tragic romance in this theme is difficult to resist, even for those who consider themselves immune to Barry's trademark thematic development of the 80's and 90's. Whereas his concurrent score for Cry the Beloved Country (along with other later ones) became stuck on one monotonous idea, The Scarlet Letter exhibits the development of several thematic expressions and impressive motifs. As with Dances With Wolves, the percussion section gets a notable workout, with pounding bass drums and ripping snares accentuating battle scenes and the inevitably frightening moments of humiliation. As the score progresses, a more menacing chopping of strings and rumbling of timpani offers a brutal side of Barry not often heard. Both "Round-Up" and "The Indians Attack" place Barry's themes in tragic, deliberate brass over tearing percussive outbursts; this is tougher, meaner music than you heard in even the darker moments of James Bond's action cues. Assisting these huge action cues is an extremely 'wet' sound mix; this technique caused Cry the Beloved Country to become awash, but in The Scarlet Letter, the percussion section especially benefits from this treatment. The echoing power of the score adds to the mythic proportions of its emotions, resulting in an outstanding, resounding listening experience on larger sound systems. Additional Indian chanting music by Peter Buffett (reprising his collaboration with Barry for Dances With Wolves) and a strong performance of Samuel Barber's 'Agnus Dei' from "Adagio for Strings" round out a very robust album. Debates comparing the merits of Barry and Bernstein's two scores are welcome, though both would have served the film. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For John Barry reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.85 (in 27 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.52 (in 24,822 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.