: (Basil Poledouris) There haven't
been many dramatically weighty films in the genre of surfing throughout
Hollywood's history, but director John Milius wanted to present the
public with just that in 1978. An avid surfer during his developmental
years in Southern California, Milius sought to change the perception of
surfing films that had been dominated by pop culture music and had
neglected the serious and professional aspects of the sport. While
accomplished its goal in providing drama both on
and off the waves, the film earned its niche in small cult groups across
the world while being sadly forgotten by most mainstream viewers. Its
extremely long soap-opera diversions into the lives of a group of young
men at the center of its tale ultimately caused
to
drag significantly in many sequences. Another surfing enthusiast and one
of Milius' close friends, composer Basil Poledouris, was also studying
film in the same area in the 1970's. Poledouris' knack for musical
whimsy, composing impromptu themes on the piano for Milius' initial film
projects, led to an early and fruitful collaboration on
. With the story centering on a subject matter close to
their hearts (and shying away from major stars and their accompanying
budgets), both Milius and Poledouris tackled the project as a labor of
passion, and their ideas about the musical identity of
surfaced before shooting on the film even began. Unlike
the pop culture surfing films of previous decades and the Beach Boy
sound often associated with them, Poledouris was instructed to offer his
services to this film with the intent of a largely orchestral approach.
The composer had already been writing music for television and
disappointing B-rate films for a few years, and the opportunity to work
on a feature film such as
led to not only a
noteworthy career for Poledouris, but also a continuing collaboration of
much success with Milius through the formative years of that career. To
emphasize the serious treatment of surfing, Poledouris would not only
employ a 55 to 65 member orchestra, but also a pair of slack key
Hawaiian guitarists to provide the heartwarming material for the central
characters and their bonds with each other. A significant amount of
lightly swaying romantic material was conceived as well to accompany the
love interests in the film.
The most fascinating aspect of
Big Wednesday is
how accomplished Poledouris had already become in establishing the
prevailing symphonic style that would define his works for decades to
come. Even if you add to the equation the enthusiasm inherent in the
topic for Poledouris (a sea-worthy, sailing spirit that would flourish
once again many years later in his scores for
Wind and
Free
Willy), you still receive a score for
Big Wednesday that is
significantly better than what you would expect to hear from a composer
in his first feature assignment. As the tale of the four primary
characters passes through the years, Poledouris sets a dramatic backdrop
with lush string themes and pulsating brass for the crashes of the
waves, always pleasant in tone and rooted at the level of personal
perseverance. So heroic is the sound of "Matt's Rite of Passage" that
Poledouris (likely unintentionally) writes a reflection of the same
bravado heard in John Williams'
Superman. The many softer guitar
cues are likely to be dismissed by fans of Poledouris' larger ensemble
recordings, but their personality is vital to
Big Wednesday's
tale. Also important are several divergent cues for individual quirks in
the story, such as the militaristic barrage of percussion in the
induction center scene and a recording of "Crumple Car" (both in film
edits and the extended version) for some cultural pizzazz. The somber
inclusion of the traditional melodies from "Taps" and "We Shall Gather
at the River" in key dramatic cues, seamlessly integrated with his own
themes, is an exhibition of Poledouris' musical knowledge even at that
time. The "Liquid Dreams" cue is a spoof of early surfer movie music,
with pop electric guitar work imitating some of Poledouris' real life
early assignments. Outside of some source Mexican music, there really is
no major detraction from the score's overall focus. Despite this
diversity, the deeper swells of the orchestra produce the true magic in
Big Wednesday for any Poledouris enthusiast, from the opening
performance of the score's surfing theme in "March of the Hawaiian
Kings" to the heartfelt transitional music in the "Passing of the Years"
cues, and, of course, the momentous three cues that highlight the film's
"big wave" finale. With a larger ensemble and a better recording
quality, these three climactic cues, along with "Jack Surfs Alone" prior
in the score, are early symphonic marvels for Poledouris, rivaling the
intensity of his later works.
For casual Poledouris collectors, there are several
direct hints of music to come later from the composer. The progressions
of the melodies in the highlights of
Big Wednesday will resemble
familiar shifts heard in his
Free Willy scores. Some of the
heavier brass techniques in the three major symphonic cues during the
finale foreshadow Poledouris' knight and barbarian-related scores of the
mid-1980's (and
Flesh + Blood most specifically). Although not
clearly evident in the soundscape, close listening will reveal some
applications of Poleoduris' eventual trademark synthetic tones as well.
On the whole, the score for
Big Wednesday, despite some slower
passages, is like a friendly snapshot in time, a work as effectively
dramatic as it is intellectually engaging. While the score never
received an official release for more than two decades, scarce bootlegs
of the score (with decent sound quality) circulated during the 1990's on
the secondary market. In 2004, Film Score Monthly's Silver Age Classics
series producer Lukas Kendall collaborated directly with Poledouris to
organize a legitimate release limited to 3,000 copies. While the 1978
score stretched the limits of the series' boundaries at the time (and
some critics argued that FSM releases had been redundant during the same
period), there should be no complaint whatsoever about this treatment of
Big Wednesday. As usual, the assembly of the score by FSM was
outstanding, with an impressive presentation both on CD and in the
packaging. Poledouris' original trailer cue for the film, for instance,
featuring the surfing theme that the composer would expand upon for the
main score itself, is an intriguing addition. Likewise, listeners
receive both film and alternate edits for several cues, filling the
album to nearly the maximum length possible on a CD. The sound quality
of the album is very good considering its recording in early 1978, and
the higher-quality master tapes for tracks 20 to 22 provide music that
is comparable in sound quality to much of what you heard a decade later.
That said, the remainder does have an archival feel to its soundscape.
It was not uncommon for FSM's Silver Age titles to sell out rather
quickly in the early 2000's, and while there was speculation that the
appeal of
Big Wednesday to both the older and younger generations
of film score collectors would cause it to disappear, the product
surprisingly remained available for many years. It's a highly satisfying
dramatic listening experience, and a fascinating one in particular for
collectors of the composer's music.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.54
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.29
(in 36,752 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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