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PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Animal Farm (Richard Harvey)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek one of the most convincing Russian Revolution
scores ever to exist for film, a deviously intelligent musical rendition
of George Orwell's classical tale with enticing attention to detail.
Avoid it... if you prefer your cute, singing animals to be performing something other than depressing Russian anthems of melodramatic, bittersweet weight.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Animal Farm: (Richard Harvey) Once the technical
ability to produce realistic speaking animals was rendered in 1995's
Babe, it was inevitable that the most famous, adult "talking
animal" story of all time would be adapted to live action. George
Orwell's 1945 novel "Animal Farm" is revered as a bleak, but prophetic
political companion piece to his story of 1984. It is an allegory
for the Russian Revolution and the eventual pitfalls of communism to
follow, and in 1999, the TNT cable channel translated most of Orwell's
story to the small screen. While much of author's vision is darkly
dramatized in the farm setting, with the animals overthrowing their
British manor masters, some liberties were taken at the end of the story
to update Orwell's tale to reflect modern events (mainly, the fall of
communism and tearing down of stone walls). Purists of the story were
horrified, and the film's depressing nature (before the Americans save
the day in an ending that defeats the purpose of the story) makes it
less suitable to the children's audience that would otherwise be
inclined to watch a film with talking and singing animals. Thus,
Animal Farm failed to satisfy either end, and you end up with a
Russian allegory of the most serious kind that is littered with upbeat
performances by singing animals that were apparently meant to satisfy
younger audiences. It's obvious that the producers didn't know exactly
how to treat this narrative. The score by Richard Harvey had to walk a
similar tightrope, conveying the workers' revolt while also producing
music that was compatible with his own songs for the performing animals.
Harvey's career is littered with impressive solo works for obscure
films, though he is probably better known for his woodwind performances
and additional music for mainstream blockbusters. Instead of
Americanizing the music for Animal Farm (or intentionally
producing a neo-classical soup of strange stylistic combinations, as had
been done with the film version of Orwell's 1984), Harvey doesn't
at all try to hide the allegory for Western audiences who may not be
familiar with the story's intentions.
For such uninformed viewers (people who were completely clueless as to the allegory and absent-mindedly turned the film on the television for their four-year-olds), the inclusion of grand, Russian anthems, hymns, and battle music probably seemed grossly out of place. But Harvey hit the nail right on the head with the tone and style of his music. If you excuse the temptation to write songs for the animals, the score is expansive and robust enough to actually accompany a film depicting the real life humans of the Russian Revolution. If you take out a few of the light woodwinds and change a few rhythms here and there (taking all references to a light, British setting out of the equation), you get a score with all the weighty drama necessary to represent the event itself, placing the score in an even more curious place when you once again consider that it's a "talking animal" story. In these regards, Harvey handles the assignment almost as though it was a comedic parody, infusing as much broad scope into his music as possible to counter the film's visuals. Harvey coins an emotional anthem for animals, one that goes from oppression ("Dumb Animals") to full glory ("Commandments") and then, finally, to performances of tragic expanse ("Jones Destroys the Windmill") as the pigs of the farm ruin the animal utopia. Hearing this theme mutate through the score, including appearances in song form, is a delight, because Harvey manages to take the same melody and convey it at every emotional level that the film requires. The falsely triumphant performance of the title theme in "Glorious Leader Napoleon!" is perhaps the highlight of the theme's evolution (or revolution, whichever you prefer), and also proves that songs in these circumstances don't have to be the fluffy affairs that the genre usually entails. Harvey pulls off the Russian marches with convincing power, remarkably conjuring a theme that doesn't seem to raise memories of any other score and utilizing the Budapest Radio Choir to provide the expected Russian chorus that the genre demands. For listeners seeking redemption, the airy "At Last We Are Free" and "End Titles" are major-key alternatives of deceptively hopeful character, complete with lofty adult choir accents fitting for an animated Disney film. More importantly, the orchestral performances of the driving, Russian movements in Animal Farm avoid the usual problems of similar contemporary statements. So many listeners associate deep male choirs, or any adult choir in the minor key, with Hans Zimmer's programmed sound of the era. Harvey's traditional approach here is more effective in portraying a realistic angle to the story's hard edge, not afraid to also use brute percussive force in cues like "The Battle of the Barn" and "The Big Battle." The lyrics of these chants and marches are in English, which may seem out of place given the underlying progressions, but considering the setting of the film in Britain, the language is acceptable. There is a considerable amount of thunderous battle music in Animal Farm, and when the full orchestra and choir aren't squashing you with their might, Harvey provides percussion-pounding dramatic underscore through nearly every other cue of the composition (his use of percussion carries over well to his score for the television production of Arabian Nights). The only purely positive romp of bittersweet might, "The Harvest and the Flag," is also of note, introducing a heroic theme for the workers themselves and their great productivity. A reprise of this theme is briefly heard at the very end of the story, exposing the slight, but significant change to its unhappy ending. On album, the progression of the story is very evident, and you can almost follow Orwell's plot in your head as you hear Harvey take you on a most effective musical journey through the allegory. Unfortunately, that album from Varèse Sarabande fell out of print in the early 2000's, so your search for the product will likely cost you more. But the quality of Harvey's music is worth the inconvenience. The composer succeeds in his effort to produce convincing revolution music, deeply rooted in Russian dramatism, without either referencing other composers' take on the genre (including Basil Poledouris, most notably) or allowing the music to be sucked into a Babe-like atmosphere of child-like mentality. Considering the lack of vast resources for the project, the result is outstanding, and only a larger number of performers in the ensemble and perhaps a wetter ambient mix would have been able to improve upon the recording. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 66:21
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Animal Farm are Copyright © 1999, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/25/03 and last updated 4/4/09. |
