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Sense and Sensibility: (Patrick Doyle) Looking back at
the early to mid-1990's, the age seemed ripe for Jane Austen dramas. The big
costume period-piece flair for dramatics was experiencing a renaissance at
the time, not restricted only to the adaptations of Jane Austen's
Pride
and Prejudice,
Persuasion, and
Sense and Sensibility. With
Hollywood stuck in eighteenth-century England for much of the decade, it's
no surprise that
Sense and Sensibility was such a success with both
critics and awards nominators. The film does have merit; it was a
surprisingly good adaptation of the Austen story by lead actress Emma
Thompson herself, and the supporting cast led by Kate Winslet and Alan
Rickman (in a charmingly rare gentleman's performance) counterbalanced the
on-cue bumbling of Hugh Grant. For detractors of the kind of ridiculous
structure of society resurrected in these Austen tales,
Sense and
Sensibility is an insipid bore, with the sort of mindbogglingly trivial
romance of the era that indeed nearly ruins the larger, overarching themes
of the maturing process that the film also displays. Just as the genre sends
people (men, of course) running away in terror, the music for these old
England dramas suffers from much of the same kind of reputation. When you
think of Merchant Ivory Productions, director Ang Lee, composer Richard
Robbins, or even Patrick Doyle in these circumstances, the genre presents
itself as a natural sedative for people who couldn't care less for the
romantic and social commentaries of Jane Austen. The music for these period
pieces was equally recognized in the 1990's, from Elmer Bernstein's
The
Age of Innocence to Robbins' pair of nominations later in the decade for
Howard's End and
The Remains of the Day. Doyle, while known
better for his Shakespearean efforts, entered this scene with Golden Globe
and Oscar nominations for
Sense and Sensibility.
To write off the score for
Sense and Sensibility as
an exercise in pure fluff wouldn't be an injustice for many listeners (and
perhaps even some Doyle collectors), but the composer accomplishes all that
he needed to do. The score is performed by a simplified orchestral ensemble
at tentative, but nevertheless beautiful levels of attentiveness to
character. The romance and interminable conversations in the film beg this
kind of basic string, woodwind, and piano writing, and while the charm
shines through in the end, Doyle is careful to present his music with just
enough solemn pace of restraint to serve the hardships of the women in the
film. Thus,
Sense and Sensibility isn't really a upbeat venture,
teasing you with typical flourishes of Doyle's always-swirling strings while
never truly engaging you until the final cue. It could be said that the
quality of the music increases as the score goes forward, but that's because
Doyle is manipulating the tone of his music to match the maturity process of
the women in the story. The two operatic performances by Jane Eaglen (making
her large-scale debut at about that time) are poems set to two Doyle songs,
and the differences in tone between those two bookending songs tells you
everything you need to know about the changes in the score. The opening
song, extending several cues into the score, allows Doyle to prance on the
light touch of the piano and woodwinds, and the best of the playful elements
are developed into the first signs of serious contemplation in the piano and
string cue "My Father's Favorite," the highlight of the score. The "Steam
Engine" and "Willoughby" travel cues strike a more wild waltz-like rhythm
that sustain interest in middle sections. Later in the score, the
orchestrations become a little more lush, and Doyle's tempos slow to allow
the strings to perform theme variations of simplicity in the broad style of
John Barry. The mood is very consistent in
Sense and Sensibility, and
Doyle's score is equally respectful and warm throughout. The final cue,
"Throw the Coins" is the only full ensemble piece, with victorious cymbal
crashes and rounded accompaniment for the final pronouncement of the title
theme as the pairings in the film are realized. Overall, Doyle's
Sense
and Sensibility can be either sickeningly boring or charmingly inviting,
depending on your opinion of low key period classicism. As a composition, it
remains one of Doyle's better achievements.
****
| Bias Check: | For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.71 (in 17 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.72
(in 16,268 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes notes by director Ang Lee about the score or film, as well as excerpts from Jane Austen's text.
