: (Danny Elfman) Adapted from Daniel
Wallace's novel "Big Fish: A Story of Mythic Proportions," the premise
of this film accomplishes exactly what director Tim Burton loves the
most: to tell a tear-jerking dramatic tale in the context of a wildly
imaginative distortion of reality. With lavish production values,
is the story of a dying father in Alabama who has spent a
lifetime telling his son tall tales about his own youth, with most of
the stories far too bizarre to be true. Through the retelling of the
stories, the initially skeptical and alienated son lets the audience
eventually decide what is true and what is not, thus allowing viewers to
determine the level of forgiveness that should be afforded the father.
Thus, you get a father-and-son reconciliation story in the context of
totally grandiose fables involving a 10-foot gentle giant, crazy circus
performers, a glass-eyed fortune-telling witch, conjoined Korean twin
night club singers, and one absolutely gargantuan catfish. The project
was one of immense personal significance for Burton, whose parents had
both recently passed away at the time he was offered this film, and it
also gave him the opportunity to forget the screenwriting ills of
that
was finished and air-tight from the start (in fact, it was originally to
be a Steven Spielberg movie). Critical reaction to the film often
depended on the capacity of the individual critic's imagination and
relationship to his or her father, typically generating a "love it or
hate it" response. What you gain from the outstanding adventures and the
heart-warming love story is perhaps lost in the contrasting examination
of the stark realities of life and death, and, for some, that gap may be
too great. In terms of its production, when you see projects like
, you have to stop for a moment and be appreciative of the fact
that the partnership between Burton and composer Danny Elfman was once
again alive and well in the 2000's. Also a sucker for stories of just
this kind, Elfman had a more difficult task than you might expect upon
accepting this assignment. Instead of pouring on a straight forward dose
of fairy-tale sentiment, Elfman was forced to combine the circus-like
environment with American Deep South locations, the sensitive real-life
reconciliation of a family, and a variety of reality-altering motifs
associated with the tales.
The resulting score for
Big Fish could very well be
termed the third volume of Elfman's "Music for a Darkened Theatre"
series of compilations, because it allows the composer to roam into the
wide variety of genres that he usually expands upon on a one-by-one
basis for each of his other works. The tones of shifting locales and
melodramatic, emotional upheaval prevalent in his style can often play
havoc with the consistency of his scores out of context, but Elfman
manages to traverse the entire spectrum of his palette without allowing
many jarring transitions to slip into his score for
Big Fish
("Enter the Colossus" being one notable exception, allowing
Mars
Attacks! to invade a cue with wacky remnants). The diversity of
Elfman's talents are on full display in this effort, modern bluegrass
sounds mingling with historical Southern flavor, his typical choral
beauty, a fair amount of romantically depressing underscore, and a few
flashes of more contemporary rhythms. Early cues even explore the
composer's most low-key and subdued, sentimental tones of introspection
for a small ensemble. Thus, you can't compare
Big Fish to any one
of Elfman's other scores in particular. Instead, by listing the
stylistic references to his previous works in sum, you can start to get
an accurate picture of the overall equation. First and foremost, Elfman
collectors who got a taste of his classic beauty from
Edward
Scissorhands in 2000's
The Family Man were hoping for more of
the same in
Big Fish. Unfortunately, for you fans in particular,
there are no majestic outbursts of theme and chorus in this outing. The
"Underwater" cue, a short but memorable highlight, does offer some of
this harmonic brilliance on a lesser scale; the choral use is usually
kept to the smaller size and background role heard in Elfman's scores of
this era (in which the vocals were typically light, fluffy, and placed
in a supporting position in the mix). On occasion, the lofty choral
tones of
Batman Returns enter the soundscape ("River Girl"),
highlighted by the "la-la" vocalizations common to the composer's early
scores. An electric base often accompanies cues of underscore while
dialogue is prominent, bringing Elfman's subtle synthetic rhythms from
his late-90's scores into the mix. The employment of a piano for the
most touching moments of family unity is another reminder of early
2000's dramas from the composer. Woodwinds in leading melodic roles are
reminiscent of late Jerry Goldsmith dramas of a similar stature.
The personality of the location of the town of Spectre
in
Big Fish is driven by the fiddle and other specialty
instruments meant to emphasize a Southern lifestyle, and this is a touch
that Elfman had rarely employed since the gorgeous tandem of
Sommersby and
Black Beauty. Some listeners will equate
this sound, along with the score's instrumental diversity, with Thomas
Newman or James Horner's more spirited parochial works. Thematically,
Big Fish is dominated by two opposing love themes, though there
are a few secondary ideas that recur as well. The theme for the man's
wife, Sandra, is the weighty romance melody in the score, but Elfman
applies a touch of tragedy to "Sandra Theme" by presenting it in the
major-key until the final note ominously and tragically shifts and dies
in the minor key. Elfman applies the emotionally depressing technique at
the end of "Sandra Theme" (which, incidentally, resolves to key in true
Sommersby fashion) a few times in the work, presenting a cue
largely in the major key until the final note makes a transition into
the minor, a constant reminder to the listener that there is tragedy
mixed into the glory of the primary character's youthful adventures. The
way Elfman treats this theme causes it to morph into the primary
identity of the entire picture (he originally termed it the "Goodbye
Theme"), and while many of its performances can pleasantly underwhelm,
the composer does unleash it in some very meaningful variations, notably
at the end of the pivotal "Finale" cue. A more exotic theme to counter
the rooted Sandra idea belongs to both Jenny and the river,
representations of the primary character's flirtation with the fanciful
aspects of life. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Jenny theme is more
memorably alluring in the long term, touching upon the fantasy element
by often hypnotizing with solo performances of its melody on piano or
other struck percussion. The resolution of this idea in "Realization"
and "Leaving Jenny" is saturated with the composer's normal, keen sense
for melancholy. A sub-theme for Spectre and the circus weaves vaguely
through those tracks, sometimes in the flavor of the locale, but at
other times using instrumentation that betrays its clear connections to
the Penguin material from
Batman Returns (perhaps a subconscious
Danny DeVito connection for Elfman?). Both the upbeat half of Sandra's
theme and Jenny's theme share melodic fragments that clearly develop
from
Edward Scissorhands, exposed further by the familiar plucked
and tapped nature of the accompaniment in applicable cues.
The orchestra in
Big Fish is almost always
present to back up the primary solo instruments with a full, rounded
sound, further weighing on the listener's heart. Be aware that if you
enjoy the carnival atmosphere of the score's mid-section (including the
victorious "Growing Montage," complete with bold brass and tolling
chimes), the personality of
Big Fish, while often cheerful during
the adventures, is subdued and solemn on an introverted level in its
other parts, culminating in the weighty "Finale" cue that presented
Elfman with numerous challenges in wrapping up the score. In short,
Big Fish flies across the spectrum of Elfman's talents but does
not exhibit his beauty in its grandest form. It is a highly personal and
humble score that demands a listener with an open frame of mind to fully
appreciate. It is, more than anything, a true souvenir score, playing
best to those who can appreciate the narrative of the story. On album,
Sony offered listeners about 40 minutes of Elfman's score on the initial
2003 CD, and even at this somewhat shorter running time, a relatively
well-rounded presentation resulted. The rest of that album has a
predictably awkward collection of songs from many eras (definitely a
result of Burton's tastes), but with the exception of the final song
number for the conjoined Korean twins, even they are appealing by
themselves. As part of the massive 2011 set, "The Danny Elfman and Tim
Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box,"
Big Fish was treated very
well, all of the songs dropped in favor of 70+ minutes of score on CD
#10 in that otherwise dismal, 2,000-copy set of $500 in price. Much of
the additional material may seem redundant to casual observers, but with
nearly half an hour of freshly pressed music, there are numerous cues of
importance for enthusiasts of the score. The music for the witch
character is finally provided, as is the bulk of the missing
circus-related material in the middle. The additional performances of
"Jenny's Theme" are very welcome. Unfortunately, as with most of the
other CDs in this set, Elfman chose not to arrange the score
chronologically, placing all of the bonus cues at the end. Four
worktapes and a demo round out the 77-minute CD; by this point in
Elfman's career, they sound quite true to the finished results. Overall,
Big Fish is a solid and imaginative score with a cohesive sense
of melancholy spirit. With its somewhat surprising nominations for a
Golden Globe, Grammy, and Academy Award, the score assisted in erasing
the memories of Elfman's awkward failure for
Hulk earlier in the
year. Despite a relative lack of name recognition,
Big Fish
remains a highly respected entry in his diverse career.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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