Sin City: (Robert Rodriguez/Graeme Revell/John Debney)
For director and composer, Robert Rodriguez,
Sin City has been a
project stewing in his dreams for quite a while. His loyalty to the seven
novels of comics by Frank Miller is creepy, if not brilliant, with so much
detail retained from the comics that Miller was given co-directing credit
while sitting in on shooting sessions with Rodriguez. To call
Sin
City an adaptation would not do it justice; the digital green-screen
production goes so far as to imitate the duo-tone nature of the comics as
well as exact storyboard direction. The content of the story really doesn't
matter much compared to the style with which it's presented, with sustained
violence, nudity, and everything pulpy and seedy taking film noir to new
levels of weirdness. Rodriguez takes three primary storylines from the
comics and treats them as mini-dramas within the film, the timelessness of
the city bringing the lines together under a common umbrella of wet streets,
cars of yesteryear, and cigarette smoke. Having received assistance on
adapting his musical ideas for the first two
Spy Kids films,
Rodriguez has been increasingly taking advantage of modern technologies that
allow even the minimally trained musical talent to write music for films.
His work becoming increasingly solo,
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
proved to be a significant step forward for Rodriguez, if even for not the
film, then definitely for his strikingly "cool" score. He is one of these
new-age directors who not only thinks about the score in his head while he
works a screenplay, but actually composes ideas on guitar for the screenplay
well in advance of filming. No matter the quality of the final music, you
have to admire the emphasis with which the director concentrates on the
scores, for such attention can only lead to a better future for film
music.
Originally intending to write the entire score for
Sin
City by himself, Rodriguez eventually conceded that time was running
short. He therefore turned to two composers with whom he had worked in the
past, Graeme Revell and especially John Debney, to finish the task.
Providing the two established composers with his title theme and various
instructions on instrumentation and the digital editing of certain elements
in the performance, Rodriguez made the intriguing choice to unleash Revell
and Debney on unique storylines in the film. Retaining the task of scoring
the Bruce Willis/Yellow Bastard line was Rodriguez, who had become fixated
on it in his composing. Revell took the Mickey Rourke line and Debney took
perhaps the most promising Clive Owen/Benicio Del Toro line involving the
police and hookers of the city. Both composers had explicit instructions
from Rodriguez about their instrumentation and thematic use. Although Revell
and Debney never actually collaborated to any direct extent in the scoring,
the coordination of the project turned out to be a surprising success. Both
Revell and Debney followed these instructions so well that despite the
film's obvious split focus on the three lines, the music remains
consistently rooted in one style from start to finish. There are obvious
differences in the three composers' work that film music collectors will
recognize immediately, however. Rodriguez's music is less dense, perhaps
underdeveloped with a lack of counterpoint and other complexities. But, as
one would expect from Rodriguez after
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the
"coolness" factor is certainly rooted in his ideas. The "Sin City" theme,
which Rodriguez refers to as "Descent," is a simple progression of downward
spiraling chords meant to mimic a fall into the darkness of the city's
nightmarish style.
Revell and Debney both utilize this theme with
effectiveness. Rodriguez also encouraged the entire range of saxophones,
from alto to bass, to accentuate the history of film noir jazz in the film,
but intentionally distorted the sax performances digitally to give them an
extra dose of gritty reality. Thus, while the sax performances do elevate
the romantic side of the story, their throaty blarings also illuminate the
harsh and grotesque sides of the city. A thumping bass rhythm is utilized by
Rodriguez in his opening and closing themes, with the end credits exhibiting
the only truly band-like performance of pop culture. Don't expect the
simple, broad strokes of high drama that Rodriguez displayed in
Once Upon
a Time in Mexico, however; the electric guitar and orchestral ensemble
only reach one of Rodriguez's excutiatingly harmonious chords of finality in
the last bars of the "End Titles." The Graeme Revell line was intended by
Rodriguez to be the only one excluding an orchestral ensemble. With a
trombone, female voice, electronic keyboarding array, and, of course, the
sax, Revell's portion of the score would dwell in the depths of an ambient
soundscape. Interestingly, Revell's incorporation of the wide variety of sax
tones, along with his collection of usual sound effect samplings that he
draws over great lengths, seem to best represent the darkness of
Sin
City. His lonely keyboarding and distant female vocals wander slowly in
the distance, along with an occasionally wailing sax, and by "Her Name is
Goldie," Revell's atmospheric work is the triumph of the film's solitary
moments of tragedy. Debney, on the other hand, was given a partial
orchestral ensemble and extended his duties to conduct both his and
Rodriguez's work. While the orchestra has a minimal effect on Rodriguez's
contributions, Debney tackles his third of the project with an obvious
attempt to rekindle the classic area of noir (in at least his
portion).
From wild jazz rhythms established by ambitious bass and
synthesized drums to full, thematic outbursts from the ensemble, Debney's
work is by far the most engaging. Rodriguez's gritty sax theme continues
here, though Debney uses the brass and string-only orchestra for dramatic
depth that ranges from a solo trumpet meandering over the top of the
ensemble to the full group's interpretation of the title theme. If there is
one cue outside of the opening and closing titles that will capture your
attention, it is "The Big Fat Kill," in which Debney builds to his own
finale with a fully-rendered, harmonically satisfying performance of the
title theme. Hearing the seedy sax mixed with such emotional grip in this
cue, it would theoretically be interesting to hear what Debney could have
done with this theme over the entirety of the film. Then again, while
pleasing music fans, such a move would defeat the purpose of having the
three different composers for the three storylines. In the end, Rodriguez's
idea for the score works. As opposed to some projects nowadays that are torn
apart by the presence of several different composers,
Sin City is
viable because of the careful direction of the music by Rodriguez himself.
Revell and Debney both succeed in "getting the picture" and providing the
exact kind of sound that not only matches Rodriguez's ideas, but each
other's as well. As for the quality of the music, the
Sin City score
as a whole demands a mood for tragedy and brooding contemplation. It walks
that fine line between depression and an attitude of revenge, and its
intentional distortion and dwelling in the bass realms may turn off
listeners seeking more dramatically fluid and satisfyingly upbeat music. The
album features one hard rock song and Rodriguez's own favorite "Sensemaya"
orchestral piece, which, despite the director's fondness for it, is a
detraction from the album because of its stark differences in style to the
less-orchestral original material. Once again, though,
Sin City is a
decent score with an excellent rendering. No single element will blow you
away (other than that final Debney cue), but its whole is surprisingly
organic and pulpy.
Score as Coordinated for the Film: ****
Score as Heard on Album: ***
Overall: ****
| Bias Check: | For Graeme Revell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 2.67 (in 18 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.77
(in 13,762 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes performance credits and notes from Robert Rodriguez about the score and film.
