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Spanglish: (Hans Zimmer) As if almost on cue, James L.
Brooks' newest comedy/drama about interpersonal relationships arrives on the
scene just in time to sweep away critics and audiences with its charm during
the awards season. While perhaps no effort will eclipse the superbly acted
As Good As It Gets in 1997, the oddly assembled cast of
Spanglish has done pretty well in its own part. Starring Adam Sandler
in a substantially serious role,
Spanglish portrays the story of a
Mexican woman and her daughter who arrive in the employment of a wealthy Los
Angeles family. Unlike the more deadly serious variations on that story in
past films,
Spanglish treats the Mexican woman as a sort angelic
presence who helps --through the language barrier-- to give sound advice to
help with the eccentricities of the her American employers. While the film
does border on more serious topics (such as adultery, for instance), the aim
of the film is to win your heart in the end, and
Spanglish has done
just that for many critics just prior to the 2004 awards nominations. The
film will mark the third collaboration between James L. Brooks and composer
Hans Zimmer. Their most previous work together being
As Good As It
Gets, Brooks manages to tempt the lighter, more romantic elements of
Zimmer's sensibilities. The German born composer has had an interesting
tendency to dabble at great length in the areas of Spanish and other
Hispanic music, often involving the traditional acoustic guitar performances
of his friend and fellow composer Hietor Pereira. Their Hispanic
contributions have seeped into several Zimmer scores in past years, and yet
Spanglish would be the first full fledged opportunity to allow this
experimentation flow into a popular dramatic effort.
As Good As It
Gets earned Zimmer an Academy Award nomination, and don't be surprised
if
Spanglish receives the same recognition, for it has an even
greater sense of humor, as well as an infectious spirit of romantic comedy
that Academy members love hearing from the likes of Rachel Portman and
Italian composers who have 'stolen' the award in the past ten years.
Being comprised of strings. woodwinds, and piano (outside
of the guitar), the score does in fact take on many of the simplistic,
heart-warming characteristics of a Portman effort. But Zimmer's flair for
rhythm is what distinguishes
Spanglish as a Hans Zimmer score of
spirit and energy. Created occasionally by percussion and the string section
of the orchestra, Zimmer's rhythms are often maintained with great style by
Pereira's guitar performances or other solo work by violin or cello. Zimmer
manages to avoid the stereotypes that you often hear composers fall back
into when composing a score such as this; all too often you end up with a
score dripping with Mediterranean flavour when, really, none is called for.
In his balance between Mexican and American styles, Zimmer takes a cue such
as "Welcome to the Claskys" and creates an instrumental duel between the
upscale strings of the orchestra (and one wild violin in particular that
probably represents Tea Leoni's manic performance) and the guitar
representing the two primary Mexican characters. There is considerable 'give
and take' between the guitar and strings in later cues, such as at the start
of "Cooking," and these moments of frantic rhythms, ambitious guitar, and
frenetic strings are the highlights of the score. At all times, Zimmer
maintains a positive, major key thematic structure, making
Spanglish
a delightful listening experience from beginning to end. The final cue, "Bus
Stop" features a dramatic climax to Zimmer's themes, with the full ensemble
providing a beautiful tear-jerking performance of Flor's (the maid) theme
before exiting. It's difficult to determine what fans of Zimmer's
militaristic scores will think about
Spanglish. Many certainly hold
the new age action piece
King Arthur as the crowning achievement by
Zimmer in 2004, but if you're one of the many listeners who reacted
indifferently towards that score because of its derivative nature (pointing
back to previous Zimmer efforts), then
Spanglish is most definitely
the more distinct and addictive score. Given Zimmer's pressures to achieve
this score under extreme deadline stress (as Brooks retells with great humor
when reflecting back on the recording process), you can't help but give
Zimmer kudos all around. A Gershwin song performed by characters in the film
is the only blemish on an otherwise consistent, enchanting little album.
****
| Bias Check: | For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 2.98 (in 51 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 217,689 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes an outstanding note from director James L. Brooks about spending time with Hans Zimmer during the recording process at deadline time.
