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| Danna |
Breach: (Mychael Danna) Can an espionage film be
truly gripping if the outcome is already known at its start? Critics
hailed Billy Ray's 2007 docudrama
Breach for doing just that,
riveting audiences despite telling the mostly non-fictional tale of an
FBI agent caught supplying Russians with secret information in modern
times. The case of Robert Hanssen fascinated the nation in 2001, when
the agent was arrested and eventually sentenced to life in prison for
selling American secrets for $1.4 million, after which the government
documented the breach as "the worst intelligence disaster in United
States history." For the movie, Hanssen's assistant is used as the
source of narrative drama, though many of the more sensationalistic
depictions of their interaction (and characterizations about Hanssen)
were exaggerated or outright fabricated to help sell the film. That
assistant was assigned by the agency to keep tabs on Hanssen, and
although the two men gain some trust and affection for one another, the
younger, aspiring man does complete his duty and provide his superiors
with the information and time they need to bring Hanssen down. Respected
but neglected,
Breach didn't fare spectacularly at the box
office, and its equally competent score by veteran Mychael Danna passed
by without much notice as well. The composer had just come off of
The
Nativity Story and
Little Miss Sunshine, further proving his
diverse capabilities with a true talent for instrumental complexity. Ray
retained Danna for
Breach because of their collaboration on a
replacement score for
Shattered Glass, and that previous work,
along with Danna's
Capote, would inform the general direction of
Breach. If you seek to hear a continuation of the composer's
interesting and often exotic instrumental tones, then this score isn't
the place to search, because while Danna does spice up the soundscape
with a few notable accents, he treats
Breach with intimate
character drama in mind. His ensemble consists of an orchestra heavy on
strings, augmented by single woodwind, horn, and harp players. The
backbone of the score, however, is the piano, the reliable mainstay of
suburban security and familial relations. Danna, as usual, though,
doesn't stop there, utilizing synthetic keyboarding and what sounds like
a processed glockenspiel as rhythmic devices that lend color to the
otherwise safely nondescript tone of the score.
Nothing Danna accomplishes in
Breach will be
remembered as being remarkable compared to his other career
achievements, but what is noteworthy here is his ability to execute his
tightly woven ideas for this assignment with near perfection. What
little there is to this sparse score (both in length and depth) is very
well arranged. Two general thematic devices are at war in
Breach,
and Danna's manipulation of these ideas is worth exploring the score on
album. The government is afforded a brooding minor-key progression one
would expect to hear in relation to its covert activities, though
despite this unoriginal tactic, the motif grows from ominous bass string
hints to full blooded, nearly action-oriented moments of grandeur in the
"Double or Nothing," "The Last Drop," and "I Matter Plenty." The gravity
that Danna instills upon the motif as it reaches its climax generates
genuinely engaging suspense despite the known outcome, an impressive
feat of dramatic writing. The theme is slowed for ultra-melodramatic
power in a display of quiet, resolute power in "The Arrest," leaving no
doubt about the government's victory. On the other side of the score,
and also culminating in a powerful statement in "The Arrest," is the
theme for Hanssen himself, the pretty, major-key piano melody heard
earlier in the score during "Morning Mass" and other moments meant to
humanize the flawed character. The theme's progressions mutate to match
the ominous tones of the government's material but, in a highly
effective move, dissolve back to their lonely and distinctly human form
at the end of "The Arrest" and "The Why Doesn't Mean a Thing," actually
supplying an environment of sadness to the final words shared between
the two leads. Outside of the thematic development, Danna supplies
mostly ambient drama and suspense, the synthetic elements crucial to
keeping the pace but not really impressing by themselves. The mix is
very well handled, no single instrument other than the piano dominating
a cue. Tasteful French horn backing and occasional woodwind solos
(especially in the latter half of the score) are welcome but not
spectacular. The almost complete lack of percussion is an interesting
choice, with rhythms sustained by harp, piano, glockenspiel, or other
lighter elements. Overall, there is ten to fifteen minutes of music in
the latter half of
Breach that will entertain you with the weight
of its drama, but the piano material, which very well developed in the
narrative arc, is rather mundane. The first half the score is likewise
cold in demeanor, and some listeners will not have patience for the time
it takes to start generating some heat.
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| Bias Check: |
For Mychael Danna reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 15 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.03
(in 4,495 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information
about the score or film.
