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| Armstrong |
The Clearing: (Craig Armstrong) Appearances by
actor Robert Redford on the big screen were becoming a rare event in the
2000's, with two full years of non-activity before leading the cast of
The Clearing. The directorial debut of film producer Pieter Jan
Brugge, the 2004 film has an the all-star cast rounded out by Willem
Dafoe and Helen Mirren, and its gripping appeal relies solely upon their
performances in the twist-filled plot to maintain audience interest in
it. For much of its running time,
The Clearing is your standard
kidnapping film, although it attempts to distinguish itself by revealing
several sudden surprises of character substance rather than being a
psychological conversational piece. It's about as glum as one could
imagine in regards to any tale based upon a tragic real-life event, and
one has to wonder why anybody would want to witness it for 90 minutes.
Not surprisingly, audiences and critics were largely unmoved by the
film, typically finding the characters too remote to care about and thus
remaining emotionally distanced from them. In the end, what had at one
time been considered a significant Oscar favorite for its year was
largely forgotten just a few weeks after its awkward summer release. In
his previous productions (
Heat and
The Insider, among
others), Jan Brugge had been involved in projects that utilized a wide
range of composers and sometimes unconventional approaches to their
soundtracks in general. Australia-based Craig Armstrong was working his
way into the genre of thrillers in the early 2000's despite being
attached most notably to projects such as
Moulin Rouge and
Love Actually. His work for both
The Bone Collector and
The Quiet American was masterful at combining suspense with
dramatic weight and a touch of modernism in the synthetic realm. But
none of that engaging kind of material is to be heard in
The
Clearing, for which Armstrong toned back his usual ensemble and
attempted a more personal, ambient approach, even though many of the
same basic ingredients typical to Armstrong's work remain present. At
the heart of his music is the piano, often performed by Armstrong
himself, and once again,
The Clearing is a piano-centered work
with Armstrong as the primary performer on both that instrument and the
standard array of electronics.
The merits of the piano are perhaps strong in
The
Clearing, for it is the ultimate instrument of the home, and, as in
the history of Hollywood, the piano has stood for family values and
pleasant, suburban existences. These parallels with the film are
extended by the use of a solo violin for a few of the cues in this
context as well. Also at issue in the film are the class differences
between Redford and Dafoe's characters, and the solo violin is an
elegant representation of the wealth involved with the characters and
their motivations. Along with these two solo instruments, Armstrong
utilizes two other elements; first, his usual collection of electronic
samples and keyboarding is rolled out for the suspenseful scenes in the
woods or during the outbursts that occur back at the primary residence.
The second element is a moderately sized string section of an orchestra
that occasionally lends dramatic depth to some of the outwardly
emotional scenes in the film. Armstrong does provide a main theme,
though its soothing and inviting character (both on violin and piano)
are just a percussion section away from being effective in a modern
romance film. The repeated performances of this theme are solemn in this
case, however, and after the vaguely graceful violin rendition in the
opening track on the album, they never achieve any level of satisfaction
in their rather mundane progressions until the "I Have Everything I
Need" cue that resolves the story with what little positive angle can
exist. The suspense cues are minimalistic in construction and only allow
their electronic rumblings to rise in volume for two or three cues,
yielding a brooding background environment without much distinction. In
the police-related cues, there are sometimes hints of Armstrong's other
scores, most notably in the chopping urban tone of "She's on the Move."
The key twist in the plot near the end is accompanied by very low-key
electronics and the single pulsating of a bass string note, nothing
particularly interesting or engaging. Armstrong's effort has the basic
personality necessary for the film, but like the picture, it fails to
draw the emotional connection between the listener and the story. If the
warmth in "I Have Everything I Need" had been established earlier in the
film and score, then perhaps it would be worth caring about, though the
point of the plot probably wouldn't have allowed it. It's a mundane and
underplayed dramatic effort with five minutes of thematic development
worthy of repeat enjoyment. Note that the album's track titles reveal
key twists in the plot, so be aware of this circumstance if you wish to
be depressed by the music without knowing its inspiration.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Craig Armstrong reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.83
(in 12 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.42
(in 46,015 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
