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Review of Atonement (Dario Marianelli)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you appreciated the elegance of Dario Marianelli's piano-led score for Pride & Prejudice, for Atonement provides much of the same spirit.

Avoid it... if the music genre of restrained British melodrama, whether from Marianelli, Richard Robbins, Rachel Portman, or Patrick Doyle, leaves you bored by its predictability.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Atonement: (Dario Marianelli) The historical dramas directed by Joe Wright have filled the void in the 2000's that Merchant Ivory Productions had occupied in the 1990's. There will seemingly always be an international audience for historic British melodramas, and the same crew that adapted Pride & Prejudice with great success in 2005 has returned for the adaptation of Ian McEwan's best-selling 2002 novel Atonement, also starring actress Keira Knightley and filmed on location in Britain. The bittersweet love story involves a privileged family's struggle over the affections of one of the servant's sons. While a budding relationship begins between the man and an older sister of the family, the younger sister's adolescent crush on the man causes her to falsely accuse him of a crime. The torments that follow would linger over the course of decades of love lost and, ultimately, the atonement necessarily sought by the grown, younger sister. This character's literary imagination is half her problem, and her typewriter would play not only an important role in the plot of the film, but also in its music. Italian composer Dario Marianelli's breakthrough into the international limelight was confirmed with his Oscar nomination for Pride & Prejudice, a score that featured the performances of renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and The English Chamber Orchestra. The same ensemble would be conducted once again by Benjamin Wallfisch for Atonement in an effort to expand upon the emotions of Pride & Prejudice, a score that performed extremely well on album. With the equation set to many of the same variables in Atonement, advocates of Pride & Prejudice will hear similar tones of elegance and thematic grace. This is a niche market that appeals to a wider group of listeners than most normal film scores, and it helps that Thibaudet has pursued a successful solo recording career during the past few years as well. In the inevitable comparison between the music for Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, the latter provides identical thematic harmony and class in its piano performances while spicing up the mix with one creative and consistent sound effect and two standout ensemble cues.

Marianelli writes two primary themes for Atonement, the first following both the imagination and maturation of the Briony character (the younger sister) and the second speaking for the heart of the love story between the older Cee and Robbie characters. The theme for Briony, written at the start of production, would be intertwined with the creative incorporation of typewriter sound effects true to a 1935 machine. The score's opening cue begins with just the tapping and ringing of the typewriter, joined by a single repeating note on the piano that grows into the girl's full theme. The sound effects would mingle with the character's scenes throughout the score, most notably in "Come Back," and while the mixing of the effects is a bit too abrasive --it could have been better placed at a wet and distant mix-- Marianelli often aligns the key of his music to match the tones of the machine. The secondary love theme would alternate with Briony's theme in the first seven cues of the score, which together provide a superlative suite of ideas from the whole. Aside from the omnipresent piano, which is performed with perhaps more restraint than in Pride & Prejudice, solo cello makes its impact later in the score, as does a harmonica in two understated cues. Most of the score consists of the two themes in varying levels of passion, though Marianelli's two most startling and impressive cues for Atonement involve war. In "Elegy for Dunkirk," a chorus provides a respectful chant, and in "The Half Killed," a dark spirit akin to V for Vendetta briefly churns in a deep brass rhythm that will likely impress fans of the composer's fantasy and action works. On album, the listening experience is consistent outside of these two cues, and while some people may be distracted by the typewriter effects (they're far more obvious and less integrated into the sound of the score than, for instance, John Ottman's Point of Origin), Atonement is a pleasant and undemanding score. A performance of Debussy's "Clair de Lune" by Thibaudet closes the product. Overall, the performances in Atonement aren't quite as passionate as those in Pride & Prejudice, but don't be surprised if this sequel score (of sorts) receives the same overflow of positive buzz around Oscar time as its predecessor. In a particularly weak year for film music, Atonement has even better odds at winning the prize.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 50:22

• 1. Briony (1:44) • 2. Robbie's Note (3:04) • 3. Two Figures by a Fountain (1:15) • 4. Cee, You and Tea (2:25) • 5. With My Own Eyes (4:40) • 6. Farewell (3:32) • 7. Love Letters (3:09) • 8. The Half Killed (2:09)

• 9. Rescue Me (3:17) • 10. Elegy for Dunkirk (4:15) • 11. Come Back (4:28) • 12. Denoument (2:27) • 13. The Cottage on the Beach (3:24) • 14. Atonement (5:18) • 15. Debussy: Clair de Lune (4:52)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes notes from both the director and composer about the score and film.

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