: (A.R. Rahman) Typically categorized as
either an action or a thriller film,
is nothing of the
sort. It's horror of the most realistic variety. Filmmakers in the
horror genre have tried every technique possible through the years to
make audiences vomit in the aisles of theatres (William Friedkin
particularly enjoyed this feat), and yet
is one of the
few films to accomplish just that without actually using cheap scare
tactics or psychological trickery. Director Danny Boyle and his
crew instead used a combination of empathy
and realistic gore so effectively that even veteran viewers in screening
events for
lost the contents of their stomachs. Despite
the fact that the story of this 2010 film is one of redemption,
containing no villain (other than a large rock) and depicting victory
over adversity of the highest order, there cannot be any denial that one
single scene of gruesomely detailed self-amputation in
dominates the entire production. It's based upon the true story of
27-year-old adventurer Aron Ralston, an experienced outdoorsman who went
on a day excursion in the mountains of Utah and suffered an accident
that left him wedged between a boulder and a canyon wall. After five
days of exhausted water supplies and videotaping his goodbyes to his
family, he decided to make the unbelievable decision to break his
trapped forearm and then sever its tissues with a dull utility knife.
The performance of Ralston by James Franco has been widely praised, as
has been the entire film, but its audience has been understandably
limited by the pivotal scene of dismemberment. A destiny toiling in the
arthouse circuit and failing to recoup even a fraction of its budget is
countered by the hope of success at the major awards ceremonies, a
likelihood based on overwhelmingly positive critical response. Among
those returning with Boyle for
placed the famous Indian composer into the international spotlight with
a sudden bang.
After a varied and extremely successful career in
Bollywood, containing everything from glowing dance numbers to
orchestral majesty, the influence of
Slumdog Millionaire allowed
Rahman to finally test the waters in American cinema. His extremely
colorful and incredibly overachieving music for
Couples Retreat
in 2009 remains a highlight of that year, a clear sampler of the
composer's ability to reach out to Western sensibilities. Less memorable
is
127 Hours, though even when restrained by the content of the
film to a more atmospheric position, Rahman still finds subtle ways to
impress. Just don't expect any single moment of this score to blow you
away like some of the best cues in the composer's prior soundtracks. In
its potentially limited appeal to mainstream listeners due to its own
construct, the soundtrack for
127 Hours mirrors the film. There
are brief passages where the elements of redemption and beauty of nature
prevail in this score, along with driving representations of an
ambitious young personality, but the score is, on the whole, a
challenging and disjointed listening experience. The "Liberation" cues
on the album for the soundtrack contain the fleshy meat of the score's
representation of Ralston. It's essentially the escape theme, provided
in three cues containing the same quietly aggressive electric guitar
strumming and underlying minor-chord rhythms. It starts modestly in
"Liberation Begins," with the guitar joined by sampled electronic sound
effects and generic string-like meandering in the treble (the majority
of the idea's support is synethetic). In both "Liberation in a Dream"
and "Liberation," Rahman accelerates the rhythm, accentuates its violent
attitude, and adds layers of percussion, guitars and eventually
orchestra to the mix. These cues successfully convey the idea of
outrageous perseverance, especially when guitar rips, pounded cymbals,
striking string figures, and whole notes for brass all reach a
satisfying crescendo. On the other hand, they're so harshly rendered
that their brutal tone may be difficult to handle for some listeners.
Outside of these cues, the remainder of the 26 minutes of underscore on
the soundtrack album is comparatively unremarkable.
Extremely sparse acoustic guitar in "Touch of the Sun"
eventually yields to an eerie vocal effect of brief beauty. Likely
representing the protagonist's deteriorating mental state is "Acid
Darbari," with deep ethnic flute and Indian vocal effects joining
tingling percussion, electronic guitar, and cello solos for a
disturbingly morbid cue. The two different choral approaches are merged
in "R.I.P.," which plods along with an equally morbid rhythmic
personality until a remarkable orchestral outburst in its final minute.
The only really palatable score cue is the first; "The Canyon" offers
the sole softly dramatic and emotionally appealing material in the
score. Disappointingly, its fading clarinet and string sequences are too
reminiscent of Alan Silvestri's
Cast Away to really sustain much
interest. However, out of the very slight theme in this cue comes
Rahman's featured song for
127 Hours, "If I Rise." Co-written by
Dido Armstrong and Rollo Armstrong (with the former co-performing with
Rahman), this song is surely awards-bait in its lovely role as a
counterweight to everything heard before it in the score. A subtle but
beautiful song, "If I Rise" eventually utilizes children's choir and
woodwind solos along with the vocals in a method very, very similar to
Angelo Badalamenti's "Maya, Mayi, Ma'" in
Holy Smoke!. Despite
the fact that "If I Rise" and "The Canyon" are thus somewhat unoriginal
in their approach to similar circumstances, they are the main
attractions on an otherwise troubled album. The selection of six source
songs spread throughout the product, ranging from teenie bopper and
contemporary rock to vintage romance from many decades ago and a
classical piece, is impossible to reconcile with a Rahman score that
alternates between restrained atmosphere and brutal guitar rhythms. Even
when programming the score selections together in one sequence,
127
Hours is a difficult album to recommend, though the nearly five
minutes of hopeful, easy harmony in "If I Rise" salvage a three-star
rating for Rahman's efforts. Whether or not you can stomach this film or
its equally challenging album, the music serves as even more evidence
that the diversity of Rahman's talents can compete favorably in an
otherwise arguably stale film scoring environment in the United States.
That said, taper your expectations when exploring this score.
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