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Review of Apocalypto (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are prepared to hear the appropriate and
consistently brutal, unnerving, and harrowing musical atmosphere
necessary for the film.
Avoid it... if you expect either an easy listening experience or any of James Horner's trademark romanticism, even in the smallest dose.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Apocalypto: (James Horner) Despite the plethora of
personal issues that Mel Gibson has to resolve, few can claim that he
makes poor films. The challenge in making Apocalypto was even
more difficult than the controversial The Passion of the Christ,
though critics have hailed the gruesome film as being visionary. It is
the story of a jungle tribesman who is captured (along with the others
of his tribe) and taken to the Mayan city for a sacrifice meant to help
ease the decline of the civilization. He has hidden his wife and son in
the jungle, however, and he attempts a remarkable escape to return to
them, and the lengthy chase is eventually followed by the arrival of the
Europeans by sea. The film's settings are convincingly portrayed
alongside a cast of speakers of the native Mayan language and other
painstakingly realistic, historical depictions of the era. The sickening
gore in the film is horrendously graphic, though, and no attempt is made
by Gibson to gloss over the primal nature of the Mayan culture. This
authenticity extends to the film's score, for which Gibson chose (after
an absence on The Passion of the Christ) to reunite with James
Horner, with whom he had collaborated twice, including the phenomenally
popular Braveheart. Unlike their other scores together, however,
Horner would not be working with a symphony orchestra. Instead, only a
small group of soloists would join an array of synthesizers for
Apocalypto, producing a more authentic environment for the
culture. Horner's usual team of soloists would perform mostly on ethnic
woodwinds and percussion, with sounds that Horner collectors will likely
recall from his other efforts. Horner's synthesizer usage returns to the
early days of career, and includes some electronic representation of
strings and brass. He finishes the ensemble with vocalist Terry Edwards
and Qawwali performer Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to provide a wide
variety of sounds ranging from East Indian wailing to threateningly
forceful throat singing. There is nothing truly resembling a Western
influence on the score, even when white men venture into the story; at
the most, their musical representation is strangely distorted.
While the ensemble may be somewhat unique for Horner in his current era, collectors will recognize nearly all the elements of Apocalypto from his other scores. If you expect to hear a presence of elegant themes, consistent rhythms, or the usual sappy song at the end, then quit reading this review now... for you're not going to get any of it. Horner does conjure a few basic themes for Apocalypto, but make no mistake about it: this is a primal, atmospheric score. The score serves basic emotions of each individual moment with its textures, and makes few connections to other sections of the score outside of its two themes. Those themes, one for the primary character's family, and one for the jungle that protects them, are barely developed (for solo woodwind) and could easily be missed. The family theme is introduced in "Holcane Attack," receives the most prominent performances in "Words Through the Sky - The Eclipse," and returns in the final two cues. The similar theme for the jungle is most prominent during the chasing in the film's latter half, though to use the word prominent is an overstatement. The soft woodwind performances of these themes are easily overshadowed by the wickedly brutal and percussive rhythmic sequences that exist for most of the score. We've heard pieces of these sections in Bopha!, Beyond Borders, and mostly Vibes, though never have they been as intensely rendered. Even in the less threatening "Tapir Hunt" at the outset, the underlying rhythms of these nimble cues vary from moment to moment, sudden strikes of the larger drums are unpredictable, and the woodwinds blast and trail off over the top in usual Horner fashion. While the intensity of these percussive ramblings will impress in the massive vista and gathering shots of "Entering the City with a Future Foretold" and "The Games and Escape," their dissonance could annoy you. The two vocalists offer extensively harsh tones in these cues, and when combined with the very heavy bass region of the synthesizers, it becomes very clear that Apocalypto is a horror score. In "An Elusive Quarry" the vocals become menacing chants over bursts of slashing percussion. The pervasive rhythmic parts of Apocalypto are an interesting listening experience, but not readily enjoyable. Their spirit is so vicious that the only redeeming factor in their performances are the technical constructs of those performances themselves. Sound effects abound, running through bleak washes of atonal electronic noise in "No Longer the Hunted," and these noises often imitate the sounds of the weapons or chants seen and heard in the film. Horner, as usual, does try to offer some more philosophical moments in his score, including the opening and closing meanderings for the forests. He employs once again the forest sounds (chirping birds, mostly) that were heard in The New World. The lack of a more prominent role for Rahat Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is expected, perhaps; nowhere does his style of vocals engage the kind of role that they played in The Four Feathers, though he does have one largely solo performance over the final "To the Forest..." cue, and while this is the most listenable cue on album, it also finishes with the ominous turn necessary to foreshadow the eventual destruction of the native peoples of the land. The most disappointing cue by far is "Civilisations Brought by Sea," where Horner attempts to use his keyboards to imitate large, noble brass and strings. If indeed the stark contrast between the Mayans and the Europeans were to be displayed, then this one cue (and only the first half of it, for that matter) would have been strikingly dramatic if it had employed a symphony orchestra. The crescendo existing in the first half of that cue is badly represented by the synthesizers, and a symphonic overtaking of the native percussion would not only have been appropriate, but gripping in its implications. It is one outwardly weak track in an otherwise consistently harrowing and disturbing listening experience. You can't help but think that Horner accomplished everything he needed to in his musical representation of the Mayans, but that doesn't make it anywhere near being listenable on album. Like a handful of others in Horner's career, Apocalypto is a score to appreciate but not necessarily enjoy apart from the film. It will impress and unsettle at once.
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 60:33
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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