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Review of Big Eyes (Danny Elfman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... on the commercial soundtrack album for Lana Del Rey's engaging original songs and a satisfactory suite from Danny Elfman's lightweight but likeable score.

Avoid it... on the longer, bootlegged variants of the studio promotional presentation for the score if you expect any significant revelations about Elfman's short contribution to the picture.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Big Eyes: (Danny Elfman) Director Tim Burton is a mammoth fan of American artist Margaret Keane, whose 20th Century paintings earned a deep fanbase due to the unusually big, round eyes with which she would style all of her depictions of people. He even commissioned her to paint his girlfriend of the 1990's, Lisa Marie. It's no surprise that he salvaged a troubled movie adaptation of her life, spending the first half of the 2010's pushing to produce and shoot Big Eyes as a tribute to her art and her triumph in claiming her rights to it. The artist was in part a sensation because of how her work was revealed, her second husband, Walter Keane, initially taking credit for her paintings and selling them in his name. As their relationship disintegrated over the deceit, Margaret Keane finally sought recognition in a court that the paintings were hers. This led to a famous courtroom spectacle in which she and Walter Keane were instructed to paint one of the trademark works in front of the judge. When Walter Keane could not, Margaret was awarded the rights to the paintings and, while she ultimately didn't receive the cash reward she deserved, she lived a comparatively happy and productive life for many decades thereafter. Burton's Big Eyes is as loyal to her as possible, offering an intriguingly divergent social commentary movie that stands apart in his career. Joining him on the project, as expected, is composer Danny Elfman, who wrote a somewhat short but heartfelt score for the movie. His music was partly displaced in the movie after Burton showed its rough cut to singer Lana Del Rey, who was so moved by the story that she wrote and recorded two original songs for Big Eyes, one of which for the end credits and another used as the centerpiece of a discovery scene in the middle of the film. Both songs are really good in a somber sense, excessively wet in their mix and exhibiting the performer's usual orchestral mode. They also both contain lyrics very specific to this tale. While the end credits song, "I Can Fly," is very easy on the ears, it's "Big Eyes" that earned the most widespread praise as a song even if some critics found it out of place and distracting in context. It is extremely dramatic with a strong bass string line and exuding Del Rey's more defiant mode of vocal inflection.

For Elfman's role in the Big Eyes soundtrack, the composer sought to diminish the score's function as a larger narrative tool and tailor each moment individually to the instrumental colors of his choice. The marimbas, strings, and piano are the core of that sound, with guitars, electric bass, and sampled orchestral elements keeping the overall tone of the music light, even in its more suspenseful passages for Walter Keane. Elfman does defy the small ensemble size by occasionally generating a significant depth of exuberance, especially in the portions of the score dedicated to the popularity of the paintings. Film music collectors may find this score to be about as close as Elfman can come to emulating Thomas Newman in his own lightly dramatic mode. A statement from the composer about not writing themes for either concepts or character is something of a head-scratcher, however, because Elfman did just that for this movie. Several ideas recur throughout the film, and all of these themes and rhythms utilize repetitive phrases. The following analysis is primarily aimed at the 21-minute arrangement of Elfman's score on the otherwise song-defined commercial album for Big Eyes, though some references are made to a 37-minute "for your consideration" album distributed by the studio that contained a set of raw cues that didn't always overlap with the contents of the commercial product. The main theme of Elfman's score represents Margaret Keane and takes call and answer form in a sum of seven notes over two phrases. It opens the score lightly and is hinted very slowly at 1:35 into "Opening," returning at 2:30 on piano over optimistic string ensemble, guitar, and marimba. This idea recurs at 1:02 into "Margaret" on piano and light plucking. While barely evident at the start of "Victory" it is better teased in middle of that cue before finally coming into focus in the final minutes. On the promo, additional performances are illuminated in abbreviated form in "Job Opening" and with smartly quiet taunts in "Walter Testifies." A couple of other melodies breeze in and out of the score in relation to Margaret, including an innocent theme on piano at 0:54 into "Who's the Artist?" over slight strings that becomes fuller at 2:05 with oboe over piano but remains subdued. It is reprised in the middle of the promo cue "Money" on similar piano and strings.

A third largely positive theme in Big Eyes seems aimed more at the relationship between Margaret and Walter, with three-note phrases over shifting chords recalling Michael Giacchino mannerisms. It opens "Who's the Artist?" and is explored further on the promo cues "Walter's Confession" and, faintly, "Jane's Discovery." Walter himself doesn't receive structural consistency, but his material is decidedly more ominous, with menacing, deep string minor shifts early in "Walter" aided by meandering descents above. This material is the most characteristic of jittery Elfman techniques on strings, with faint organ and low woodwinds lending to the unease. It becomes a force in the revelation cues in the final third of the score, ranging from "Going Wrong" to the tense spirit that carries over to "Off to Court," cues separated from the Walter suite on the promo. The final theme in the score is its Newman connection; this popularity theme is a snazzy, ten-note motif in repetition that is hinted early but consolidated at 0:50 into "Opening" on marimba over electric bass. A variant opens "Margaret" in high spirit and morphs into a softer and more urgent, suspenseful form in the first half of "Victory," accelerating into the main theme's chords in the second half of the cue. This idea opens "End Credits" lightly on marimba but is underplayed and dissolves at the end. The popularity theme is the score's most memorable and enjoyable, and those seeking additional performances will find them on the promo in the exuberance of "Keane Fever" and force in "A Movement," reprised in "Margaret Reveals" with different counterpoint on top. Overall, Big Eyes is a decent little score, its suite arrangements on the commercial product recommended for all but Elfman completists. That Interscope product offers both Del Rey songs as an equal attraction and presents a pair of source songs ("Bludan" and "Tropicville"), the first of which sounding remarkably similar to the theme of the "Sex and the City" show. For those seeking bootlegged versions of the promo, expect poor sound quality due to the highly compressed nature of the original online presentation. Still, it has a few singular highlights, including a nicely rolling melody in "Humpty Dumpty" and the bright guitar and marimba enthusiasm in "The Brochure." Otherwise, it adds mostly short, mundane atmospherics, the World's Fair cues minimal and uninteresting while low, rambling Walter material is reprised in "Jane's Discovery." Some Elfman music is unique to only the Interscope album, which remains the best option.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Interscope Album:
Total Time: 53:25

• 1. Big Eyes - performed by Lana Del Rey (4:41) • 2. Bludan - performed by Cast of Big Eyes (3:15) • 3. Doxy - performed by Miles Davis (4:55) • 4. Hey Now - performed by Red Garland Trio (3:41) • 5. Tropicville - performed by Cast of Big Eyes (3:10) • 6. Rik-a-Tik - performed by The Lively Ones (3:02) • 7. A Minor Goof - performed by Cal Tjader (3:54) • 8. I Can Fly - performed by Lana Del Rey (5:48) • 9. Opening (3:59) • 10. Who's the Artist? (2:56) • 11. Margaret (3:04) • 12. Walter (4:49) • 13. Victory (4:59) • 14. End Credits (1:12)

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Weinstein Company Promo/Bootleg:
Total Time: 36:36

• 1. Opening (4:01) • 2. Job Opening (0:43) • 3. Humpty Dumpty (0:45) • 4. Walter's Confession (1:15) • 5. Margaret's Apartment (2:13) • 6. The Brochure (0:35) • 7. Money (1:22) • 8. Who's the Artist? (0:50) • 9. On the Town (1:05) • 10. Pre Confession (0:24) • 11. Almost Caught (0:31) • 12. Keane Fever (0:51)

• 13. A Movement (0:29) • 14. DeeAnn's Visit (1:21) • 15. Revelation (1:21) • 16. S. Cenic (2:31) • 17. Seeing Things (0:17) • 18. Jane's Discovery (1:41) • 19. Going Wrong (4:50) • 20. The Witnesses (0:49) • 21. Margaret Reveals (1:52) • 22. Off to Court (0:42) • 23. Walter Testifies (1:05) • 24. A Challenge (3:00)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for the digital Interscope album. The promotional album and bootlegs have no official cover art or other packaging.

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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 Big Eyes are Copyright © 2014, Interscope Records, Weinstein Promotional/Bootleg and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/17/22 (and not updated significantly since).