Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #575
Written 7/15/03, Revised 3/3/09
Invert Colors
Buy it... if you want a souvenir from the film that includes all the important
score material and Greek songs that you will remember from its major scenes.
Avoid it... if authentic Greek folk music sends you running in terror, or if
20 minutes of conservatively anonymous, romantic underscore isn't worth the
purchase.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding: (Chris Wilson/Alexander Janko) The
2002 smash hit that took everyone by surprise, this film outpaced many of the
year's blockbusters and returned the kind of overwhelming profits that raised the
hopes of all distributors of arthouse films looking for mainstream success. Affable
actress and comedian Nia Vardalos first performed the idea of My Big Fat Greek
Wedding in her stand-up solo comedy routine before the producing husband and
wife team of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson propelled the concept onto the big screen.
For anyone who has not had the privilege to know or live with a true Greek, then
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a must-see experience for purely educational
reasons. While the film makes light comedy out of the differing cultures of Greek
Americans and "Xenos" (non-Greeks), it also presents a balanced and frighteningly
accurate portrayal of Greek eccentricities. A thirty-something Greek spinster
(Vardalos) falls in love with and becomes engaged to a Xeno (John Corbett) and
thus, from the Xeno's point of view, a "wedding from hell" kind of scenario is put
into motion. The music for the film proved to be a popular hit with audiences as
well, combining a predictably soft and romantic orchestral underscore with several
Greek songs of much flashier character that were licensed for use in the film. Some
of those Greek songs are traditional, while others are of a more modern Greek
heritage, though most of the relatively minor differences between them will likely
go unnoticed by American ears. In the film, the songs alone offer some of the
comedy of the story, often presenting a saturating Greek atmosphere at times when
it is comically convenient. While some might consider this use belittling to the
traditional Greek songs, nobody can argue that it isn't an ineffective approach for
the situation. Whether American ears can withstand the powerful Greek character on
album is an entirely separate issue. The album for My Big Fat Greek Wedding
was considered a commercial success, partly because it is true to the music heard
in the film and partly because audiences simply hadn't encountered this kind of
Greek soundtrack compilation in recent times.
The soundtrack product offers an almost even split between songs
and score, with each receiving about 20 minutes of playing time. The songs explain
themselves; all of the pertinent ones from the film are offered, including those
that accompany the restaurant scene at the beginning, Toula's transformation, the
party backgrounds, and the two songs for the wedding at the end. The highlight of
the songs is arguably the hysterical, wordless Baydur/Thomas creation "Istanbul
Coffee House," which offers Greek folk music at its most comical level to Xeno
audiences during the front yard, lamb-roasting party scene. For the Xeno listener,
the traditional and original songs will likely meld together seamlessly, leaving
much of the original score as the only differing element. The smooth transfers
between the songs and the more source-like original score material is aided by the
fact that nearly all of the songs contain no vocal performances. The
My Big Fat
Greek Wedding score by Chris Wilson and Alexander Janko is a surprisingly
enjoyable romance effort that allows the songs to handle the duty of conveying all
of the comedy. Led by a nearly continuous piano theme, the score elegantly offers
acoustic guitar and string section accompaniment to the flirting and dating scenes
involving Corbett's character in the film. All of the vital score cues, from the
hip rhythms of the flirtation at the travel agency to the light background piano
solos for the first date, are presented on the latter half of the album. It's a
pleasant and harmonious score that rarely mingles with the Greek material (except
for the silly "Moose Caca" cue). In fact, the smooth flow that exists in the score,
extending to light rock tones in "Toula and Ian" (which faintly resembles some of
Basil Poledouris' light romance material from late in his career, especially with
the addition of slight electronic choral accompaniment), is almost a detriment
because of the music's rather faceless constructs. It is anonymous material in
terms of melody, but it suffices in producing the appropriate atmosphere, which is
really all that was required. If the overall album has a fault, it is this
disparity between the two sounds: the Greek songs and the modern, romantic
underscore. And yet, that's the essence of the film itself, and the album still
manages to hold itself together well enough throughout its length. Ultimately, it's
a pleasant souvenir from an equally lighthearted film.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
