cost 20th Century Fox a staggering $37
million, nearly sinking the studio into bankruptcy. The 1999 production
by Hallmark Entertainment cost $30 million, a relative bargain, and
failed badly in its television debut. Running a full three hours, the
series would adapt the famed Egyptian character from 40 years of
research contained in Margaret George's book "The Memoirs of Cleopatra."
It would mostly deal with Cleopatra's impact on Rome, and Julius Caesar
and Marc Antony in particular. Featuring Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane
in those roles, the French/Chilean actress Leonor Varela was badly
outclassed in talent, with her wooden performance causing many of the
complaints regarding the film. Like most of the Hallmark films produced
for cable or network television, there were no corners cut when it came
to the score, which was, compared to most of the other production values
of the film, praised uniformly by critics at the time. Director Franc
Roddam, responsible for Hallmark's
, turned to veteran
blockbuster composer Trevor Jones for the task of writing an absolutely
massive score for the remake of
. Along with Jones
comes, of course, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Jones delivered a
phenomenal recording for a film that went through a rather hasty
production process. Jones is well know for his epic themes, and that
talent would be put to the true test here, but what's even more
intriguing are two essential choices that Jones developed in his music
for the project. First, he would use the orchestral ensemble to
represent the power of Rome while relying on specialty instruments, a
solo voice, and synthesizers for Egypt, placing the two elements at
battle with one another in the final score mix. Secondly, he would throw
aside the Alex North notion of straight forward Western romance writing
of the Golden Age of film scores and instead give the teenage temptress
a truly erotic musical representation. To that end, the score would have
a distinctly lurid new age side to it.
If you've previously been impressed by Jones' well
known epic themes for
Last of the Mohicans,
Cliffhanger,
and others, then you will not be disappointed by
Cleopatra's
primary theme. In fact, the very similarly styled progressions of the
theme for this film, while bordering on self-plagiarism in some regards,
are better orchestrated and performed in
Cleopatra than in any of
Jones' other major scores. That includes
Merlin, a previous entry
in the Hallmark series for which Jones' score is highly regarded by all.
Simply put,
Cleopatra is better. A resounding bass, wild
percussion section with a bed of varied drums, and bold solo female
voice get in on the string-over-brass-counterpoint standard for Jones'
masculine themes. That theme is given a more varied treatment in
Cleopatra than the rather static one for
Merlin, which
repeated only in nearly identical form. In
Cleopatra, a variety
of much stronger secondary themes grace the score, including a sultry
love theme for the primary lovers and a forceful march for Rome and its
senate. The title theme is presented in full ensemble ruckus at the
opening and closing of the album, along with some satisfying variants in
between, including a heartbreaking string rendition in "To Speed You on
Your Way." The love theme would be at home in any late 90's new age
album, performed with much allure by the solo voice of Belinda Sykes.
She also performs the shawm, which is the primary specialty instrument
in the score. Essentially a descendent of a traditional Egyptian oboe,
the shawm has a distinctly foreign and slightly electric, but extremely
smooth sound. Its solo performance at the outset of "The Eye of Horus"
is powerful in its resolve, and a true joy when merged with the equally
forceful solo voice. The major performance of the love theme exists in
"Egypt is Yours for Only One Day," a simply gorgeous new age track that
introduces the delicately balanced role of the keyboarded electronics.
Jones has a clever way of incorporating the electronics (along with a
very wet mix of the vocals) in such a way that the synthetic side of the
music doesn't interfere with the authenticity of the era. The orchestra
would combine with these elements for a reprise of the love theme in
"Temple of the Sun."
Another subtheme introduced in "The Tomb of Kings" is a
distant cousin of the title theme and it brackets an eerie
synthetically-aided performance of that title theme, rolling with humble
percussion to an eloquent conclusion. The Roman music is a bit
predictable, beginning with noble trumpet fanfares and often extending
over a martial rhythm led by snare, timpani, and chopping bass strings.
Parts of "Rome Decrees" and "The Roman Forum" stir up the same wild,
noisy brass action that woke up neighbors in
Dark City. Some of
the most interesting parts of
Cleopatra are those that alternate
between the elements of the orchestra and the specialty instruments for
Egypt. Jones accomplishes this balance intelligently as the two cultures
and their rulers work their irregular diplomacy. Also working in his
favor is his ability to adapt fragments of his themes seemingly
effortlessly into any part of the score, sometimes masked as
counterpoint. The fluttering nature of the shawm and vocals offers an
almost creepy and mysterious Arabic feel to the sharp London players.
Despite featuring ten or so minutes of simmering, slightly erotic
underscore in its latter half, the album is a remarkably engaging
listening experience. The performances of the title theme could use some
additional reverb, especially with the force of the percussion in the
forefront, and you'll be rewarded by playing with their mix yourself on
a PC. The album was a pseudo promo released through Jones' own label (in
similar fashion to his
Dinotopia score), and was available for a
short while at online retailers. It has since disappeared from the
market, but you'd be well served by a copy even at a higher price. With
such a fascinating and enjoyable run of 55 minutes on that album, with
all of the cues of substantial length and substance, the score begs for
a full release.
Cleopatra is Jones' consistent creativity and
intelligence on display at every moment. Avid fans of the composer need
to research this score without fail; it would be among the top five of
1999 if composed for a widely released theatrical film.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Trevor Jones reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.78
(in 18 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.44
(in 25,064 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
