Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,324
Written 10/27/08
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Buy it... if you are reliably fascinated by understated scores that
function solely on texture and rhythm, especially in cross-cultural
settings.
Avoid it... if a marginally tense atmosphere created by slight
rhythms and smart, ethnic instrumentation isn't compelling enough to
warrant a standalone listening experience.
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| Streitenfeld |
Body of Lies: (Marc Streitenfeld) Intelligent
geopolitical thrillers like Body of Lies are a refreshing change
of pace from Hollywood, featuring an extremely thoughtful script and a
believable set of characters and circumstances in today's actual world
of espionage and counter-terrorism. Director Ridley Scott's film follows
the pursuit of an Islamic terrorist by a team of two veteran CIA
operatives. The involvement of the Jordanian Intelligence Agency
complicates matters, though the experience of the Americans (one an
expert in field work and the other the manipulator of technology to view
the action from high above) gives them a gritty sense of reality. These
basic elements, along with the necessary cultural confrontation and
betrayal to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, are what many
critics have cited as the source of the film's great strength. William
Monahan, fresh off of his success on The Departed, has received
significant praise for his screenplay for Body of Lies, creating
a narrative that few could predict. While Scott is no longer
collaborating directly with composer Hans Zimmer for his films, he did
end up rotating between a few of Zimmer's proteges before settling on
another German, Marc Streitenfeld. Though not a household name,
Streitenfeld was Zimmer's technical assistant for several years during
the height of the Oscar-winner's popularity. He shifting from being an
editor of The Prince of Egypt, Gladiator, Hannibal,
and The Last Samurai to the role of supervisor for Harry
Gregson-Williams' impressive score for Scott's Kingdom of Heaven,
eventually gaining a compositional assignment from Scott for 2006's A
Good Year. Body of Lies marks their third consecutive
collaboration (including American Gangster in between), and while
none of these scores has received the kind of popular response as the
previous works by the better-known composers, the films haven't required
the type of high profile scores that draw attention to themselves.
Undoubtedly, Body of Lies falls into the same category, serving
as only an atmospheric piece of the larger puzzle and rarely announcing
its presence with any great volume. Its intent is to address the
cultural aspect of the film in distinctly subtle tones, succeeding to a
functional extent.
While
Body of Lies slowly builds its tension to
palpable levels in its final hour, you might not get the impression that
the film has as much outward emotion by simply hearing the score on
album. Streitenfeld creates a soundscape appropriate to the region and
adequately alien to Western ears, building his foundation upon mostly
static, relentless rhythms performed by plucked instruments such as the
saz, tanbur and oud, as well as an Iranian hammered dulcimer. Acoustic
guitar and a variety of standard and ethnic percussion also contribute
to these rhythms. For the less outwardly ethnic mixes, traditional
string soloists join the mix. The use of a moderately sized orchestral
ensemble is restricted to just a few cues, very rarely utilizing the
woodwinds or brass with any distinct effect. The meandering, usually
understated rhythms that Streitenfeld maintains throughout
Body of
Lies are effective in that they convey a strange landscape and
foreign values. On the other hand, the score has two considerable flaws
that make it questionable in terms of transcendent quality. First, the
staggered theme introduced in "White Whale" and heard occasionally until
its full return in "Betrayal" is not particularly memorable, relying on
the octave-slurring nature of the performances to create memorability
rather than any part of the underlying construct. As such, there is
absolutely no single melodic idea that will stick with you after the
listening experience, which is an awkward circumstance given that the
score avoids dissonant irritation for nearly all of its running time.
It's pleasant, but anonymous. Secondly, Streitenfeld attempts so hard to
evoke the range of emotional responses from such a small ensemble that
he forces his instruments into performances that would otherwise have
conveyed a sense of gravity if not for their considerably sparse
ensemble renderings. In other words, he isn't able to provide the
tension necessary by simply emphasizing the harshness of a particular
soloist's performance, thus leaving the score as an underachieving bore.
There are interesting textures to be heard here, for sure, but there's
so little narrative quality to the music that the texture is all you're
left with. That causes music that is likely functional, but certainly
not worth a 45-minute experience on album. With so many intelligent
choices in the ensemble, it's hard not to get the feeling that this
score could have been so much more, even at the same, diminished
volumes.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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