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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 1994 and 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,
subsequent scores of that year. Suspense and political mayhem are not
foreign ideas for Goldsmith; he had scored Becker's
Malice
several years earlier and was later 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 main theme for the story's characters and an unusual choice for a
dominating primary instrument. These elements allow the work to
transcend from the realm of merely average procedural muck to at least
retain your interest with their consistently intriguing tones. Still,
expect the familiar Goldsmith ambience to stew more often than thrill,
especially on the longer of the two albums available for the score.
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 accent each
measure or bar of music to remind the listener of their 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 the main theme, often featuring lonely French horn or
understated woodwinds in performances of the main theme. 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 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 tolling chime 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 is
cohesive and functional, though the expressions of the softer character
theme are so strongly overshadowed by the timpani-rolling action 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. The original, short album
release disappeared from the market, but a limited 2023 follow-up from
Varèse Sarabande offers the film version of the fuller recording
with various alternates, highlighted by a snazzier take on "The King
Maker." Either album will equally please an enthusiast of resounding
percussion.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26
(in 125 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.29
(in 153,510 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert of the 1996 album includes no extra information about the score
or film. That of the 2023 album contains extensive notation about both.
