Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #618
Written 12/12/03, Revised 3/16/09
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Buy it... only if you enjoyed the use of this music as a dulling sound
effect in a film and are prepared for its intellectually devoid, slow mush of
sonic despair on album.
Avoid it... if you don't want to feel as though someone has just clubbed you
in the head and you're stumbling around in a dazed stupor.
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| Santaolalla |
21 Grams: (Gustavo Santaolalla) Director Alejandro González
Iñárritu, the Mexican filmmaker who hit the big screen with a big splash due to
his Academy Award nomination for Amores Perros in 2000, was already
strongly establishing his preference for presenting stories out of chronological
order. Such was the case once again with 21 Grams in 2003, a film that
tells the doomed tale of torment and salvation through the existence of three
people connected by a single traffic accident. Their lives are presented before,
during, and after this connection in a disjointed series of time and location
shifts, with the numbing whole of the film brilliantly but disturbingly painting
a glum overall picture. The film spent several weeks just below the mainstream
radar late in 2003 but received a decent response from critics and audiences
alike. Iñárritu's fascination with this disconnected form of storytelling,
however, wears thin despite the magnificence of its own concept, and the score is
yet another sometimes baffling piece of the 21 Grams puzzle. Once a radio
personality, Iñárritu seemed enthused by the selections of songs and sounds for
his scores. Interestingly, the distinction is exactly that; he utilizes songs
from several genres in the film while experimenting with atmospheric sound
effects as music in the moments in between the songs. He had collaborated with
composer Gustavo Santaolalla for his two previous projects of significance, and
the trilogy of music stood as an exercise in experimental minimalism, much like
the constructs of the films themselves. Unlike the previous two projects,
Santaolalla, winner of four Latin Grammy Awards, was involved with 21
Grams from the pre-production process, with sequences of music written based
on the composer's interpretation of the script. That music was then played at
shooting sessions to get the actors into the correct frame of mind for their
performances. Iñárritu is quick and often to praise this score as a magical
masterpiece of emotion, a "telepathic miracle." Then again, you have to take into
account the somewhat deranged (talented, but still deranged) methodology of
Iñárritu as a director. Whereas he finds Santaolalla's score for 21 Grams
to be wildly inspiring, it's just as easy to dismiss the music as aimless,
lethargic sound effects lacking in personality and direction.
The score doesn't lack purpose, for its meandering solo
performances likely serve the film well in conveying the surreal environment of
the story. It functions as an extension of a sound effects mix that only
registers in the subconscious for many listeners. On album, however,
Santaolalla's work can be boring, if not tedious, with extended cues of guitar
strumming, droning and pulsating with minimal, if not non-existent rhythms. There
are no themes, no lesser progressions, no repeating rhythms or instrumentation.
Nor is there seemingly a connection between any of the cues outside of their
depressingly distant and mundane attitude in presentation. Had the performances
been sharp in their demeanor, then the ensemble of guitars, vibes, violin, pipes,
harmonium, ronroco, and bandoleon could have provided some interesting material.
And yet, the mixing of the album, as well the abundant electronic accompaniment,
blurs the music into one slow, excruciating movement. Additionally, the mood of
despair is extended by Benicio del Toro's hideously monotone performance of
"Shake Rattle and Roll," as well as vocal sound effects from the film mingling
with the score in "Can Dry Leaves Help Us?" Even the song selections scattered
throughout the album can't set a clear direction for the music, with rap, gospel
and classic rock mixed with a neo-classical performance at the end which likewise
suffers from a tone that suggests a recent blow to the head of each of the
musicians. The dulling effect of the score for
21 Grams is extraordinary,
and if a film was ever to require a piece of music that could squash your senses
and make you feel as though you're either hung over or have been punched
repeatedly in the face (or both), then this music would be a ticket to success.
Otherwise, it's a pointless presentation of ambient design and sound effects in
an intentionally blurry environment, mixed to a slow mush of sonic despair. The
Dave Matthews song "Some Devil," heard at the end of the film, is not included on
this album. For veteran film music collectors, the soundtrack for
21 Grams
will only yield irritation, for many such listeners cannot forgive the composer
for stealing consecutive "best score" Academy Awards for extremely
underachieving projects later in the decade. This score is easily worse than
either
Brokeback Mountain or
Babel, however, and it will provide the
mainstream score community only a continued opportunity to scorn Santaolalla for
recognition undeserved.
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