 |
|
| Williams |
|
|
The Witches of Eastwick: (John Williams) For those
who believe that casting is everything in a film, then
The Witches of
Eastwick was a production custom made for its cast. Not only do
Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer play bored New England
housewives messing around with witchcraft, but they conjure their
perfect man in the form of the devil. In perhaps the most predictable
single casting ever in Hollywood, Jack Nicholson finally got to revel in
the role he was truly meant for. Adapted competently by director George
Miller from John Updike's fantasy novel,
The Witches of Eastwick
is a classic comedy in part because of the fiendish performance by
Nicholson but also because the story is a timeless one that doesn't go
overboard on the imaginative religious turmoil involving special effects
until its final scenes. After creating the devil in a pristine small
town, the three women are first seduced by him before uniting to defeat
him, eventually yielding one of the most spirited and humorous (not to
mention cherry-spewing) monologues to "church-going folk" ever to exist
on the screen. While most of the accolades and awards attention pointed
to Nicholson's performances, the Academy nominated
The Witches of
Eastwick only for its sound and score by John Williams. Indeed, the
music by the veteran Williams was a delightful and obvious contributor
to the comedy of the film, maintaining just the right tone of dreamy
fluffiness until unleashing the necessary ballsy action material at the
tale's conclusion. When you merge cheeky comedy with a keen classical
sense, along with the composer's inherently intellectual view of
practically any assignment, you get a score for
The Witches of
Eastwick that is remarkably effective despite its carefree attitude.
In personality, it is about as far removed as possible from Williams'
other Oscar-nominated score of 1987,
Empire of the Sun (and more
consistent in its flow by a substantial margin), though both scores
suffer when translated onto album. In the case of
The Witches of
Eastwick, this trial of patience apart from the film is due to the
overwhelmingly positive, dancing spirit of Williams' title theme and
related material throughout the film. This music could quite literally
drive a person mad in its twisted combination of folk and waltz
movements, foreshadowing some the uplifting material of magical intent
in the
Harry Potter franchise but pouring on the tone of a
carnival atmosphere (with slight religious nods from harp and organ) to
such an extent that it borders on tedium in its more enthusiastic parts.
Williams even lightly emulates Jerry Goldsmith's "squishing sound"
rhythm from
Damien: Omen II in "The Ride Home."
Because the witches and their unruly creation both
evolve from the whim of the three housewives, their devious theme is the
centerpiece for every part of the score. Heard in several major scenes
without significant interference from other elements (as in the
aforementioned "The Ride Home"), "The Dance of the Witches" is a
whirling, fanciful theme for woodwinds, violins and harpsichord that
occasionally employs deep brass tones on key to hint at the gravity of
their actions. This theme takes on a purely comedy stature of grand
classicism in "Daryl Arrives," a piece that pokes fun at standard
classical structures in its treatment of the devil's pompous bravado.
While extremely memorable and therefore a crucial element within the
picture, this theme does tend to wear on the nerves after the fifth or
six major variation; the harpsichord is especially obnoxious after a
while. The score's secondary theme for Daryl Van Horn is actually more
humorous in its applications while also being quite attractive. First
heard at the end of "The Seduction of Alex," this theme is ultra-tragic
in a Golden Age sense, tickling at "Daryl's Secrets" before occupying
the almost genuinely sorrowful "Daryl Rejected." The piano and deep
synthetic keyboarding of this cue (a duo later used to great levels in
Presumed Innocent) gives the sonic retort to the harpsichord. By
laying Daryl's theme directly over the title theme and its rhythm in
this cue, Williams firmly connects the two. The hopelessly optimistic
environment conveyed on synthesizer and woodwinds in "The Township of
Eastwick" extends to "The Tennis Game," and chopping string figures in
these passages will please fans of Danny Elfman's early 1990's sound. Of
the unique standout cues in
The Witches of Eastwick, "The
Destruction of Daryl" adds some overdue muscle and church organ to the
confrontation, while "The Children's Carousel" is a downright creepy cue
in the film that translates the title theme into a music box effect.
Finally, any discussion of
The Witches of Eastwick cannot
conclude without a special mention of "The Ballroom Scene," a cue
replaced by Giacomo Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" (from the opera "Turandot")
in the film but whimsically romantic and beautiful to a fault and unlike
anything else in Williams' score. Ultimately,
The Witches of
Eastwick is an important entry in the composer's career, as comedy
was a rare occasion at the time. After the score's 1987 release on CD by
Warner Brothers went out of print, it was considered a top collectible
worthy of $200 or more. Several substandard bootlegs with additional,
inconsequential music (including some alternate takes) floated around
the market until demand was met by a 2006 Collector's Choice album
(identical to the 1987 product) that made the music available
inexpensively.
*** Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
| Bias Check: | For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.73 (in 67 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.69
(in 322,036 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts for neither retail album include extra information about
the score or film.
