Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you want to hear an expansion of Hans Zimmer's light drama touch and Heitor Pereira's Spanish guitar performances with all the sensibilities of a Rachel Portman romance score. Avoid it... if you prefer Zimmer's kick-ass militaristic scores for full symphony, choir, and synthesizer. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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. **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 38:18
All artwork and sound clips from Spanglish are Copyright © 2005, Varèse Sarabande. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 1/14/05, updated 1/15/05. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2005, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
