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| Goldsmith |
City Hall: (Jerry Goldsmith) A political thriller
penned in part by Nicholas Pileggi (a New York investigative reporter),
City Hall tells the rather gloomy tale of how one side of the law
helps the other and does so without anybody knowing it. The tough
workings of an inner city and all of the unsavory handshakes that exist
without the public's knowledge are the setting for a clash between two
characters' ideals. The city here is New York, of course, and the
primary characters are the mayor, deputy mayor, and a handful of cops,
mafia sorts, and attorneys. Directed by Harold Becker,
City Hall
exposes the dealings of an administration at its best and worst, with
intriguing concepts that the film delivers in one of its many
fascinating scenes. But the plotline also sinks the film by the end,
weighed down by the inclusion of unnecessary story threads and the
equally needless addition of a surprisingly chipper ending on an
otherwise darkly realistic picture. Even a strong cast could not salvage
City Hall from the depths of box office despair in the early
winter months of 1996, though the film did mark the start of a very
strong year for composer Jerry Goldsmith. Having awakened from the
slumber of obscure light dramas and outrageously ridiculous comedies in
the early 1990's, Goldsmith began returning to the brazen action and
fantasy genres in 1995, and 1996 would prove to be one of the composer's
finest years of production. Of his five projects in 1996,
City
Hall is likely the most scarcely remembered entry, but qualitatively
it is better than at least two of his better known, later scores of that
year. Suspense and political mayhem are not foreign ideas for Goldsmith;
he had scored Becker's
Malice several years earlier and would be
widely recognized for his powerful work on
L.A. Confidential, the
score that most closely resembles
City Hall among Goldsmith's
other digital era works. To distinguish this work from others in the
genre, Goldsmith takes two creative routes to achieve a uniquely
memorable result: a bluesy twist to his themes and an unusual choice for
a dominating primary instrument. These elements allow the score to
transcend from the realm of merely average procedural muck to at least
retain your interest with their consistently intriguing tones.
While Goldsmith reprised his employment of the timpani
in a leading role again in
L.A. Confidential, nothing in the
composer's career compares to its total and complete dominance in
City Hall. Goldsmith seems to use the instrument as the driving
heartbeat of the big city and to establish the importance and weight of
the office in which the film exists. In several action-oriented cues,
the timpani are allowed to roam freely with other percussion, placing
all other sections of the orchestra at a disadvantage. Even in the
lighter character and contemplation cues, the timpani accents each
measure or bar of music to remind the listener of its presence. In "The
King Maker," Goldsmith utilizes a light jazz ensemble of piano and bass
to much of the same degree as in other works, but once again the timpani
rumbles in the background. The highlight of its performance is the
monumentally robust "The Meet," in which the drum quite literally
challenges the other sections of the orchestra to battle, prevailing in
the end. It's often accompanied by tapping cymbals, rambling piano, and
ripping snare, with staccato strings and solo trumpet alternating over
the top. The other element of note in
City Hall is the bluesy
spirit of many of the score's thematic interpretations. Goldsmith has
condensed big city jazz and reduced it down to a level of sleaze that
only subtle blues effects and twists of melody can convey. Imagine all
the spirit of the main theme from
Love Field sucked out of its
personality and constricted to its most minimal form. The final two
cues, with a sense of resolution only hinted at in the opening minute of
the score, throbs with crescendos that end on a twist of blues, and even
in its dying moments, the score reminds you of its depth by allowing the
timpani to be mirrored by a piano in low octaves. Electronics exist as
per usual, and a ringing bell (electronic or otherwise) lends a sense of
urgency to "The Cabin." Solo brass performances solemnly maintain a
minimal noir-like ambience in "Swartz is Dead" and "Think About It."
Overall,
City Hall functions well as cohesive whole, though the
expressions of the softer character theme are so strongly overshadowed
by the timpani-rolling action pieces that the score becomes a "three cue
wonder." If you appreciate the overbearing noir tone of
L.A.
Confidential, then you will definitely be impressed by
City
Hall. Its short album release, somewhat difficult to find in the
2000's, awaits any enthusiast of robust percussion.
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For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 113 reviews)
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