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Review of Come See the Paradise (Randy Edelman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are a collector of Randy Edelman's pleasant, soft melodies
and want a short, but touching piano theme to go with one extremely memorable
action cue.
Avoid it... if you've heard the second cue on this album in one of many movie trailers and are hoping that the rest of the score is even remotely similar in style.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Come See the Paradise: (Randy Edelman) A 1990 film that has
since been completely forgotten, Come See the Paradise tells the touching
story of romance and perseverance between an American man (played by Randy Quaid)
and a Japanese-American woman during the domestic turmoil of World War II.
Executive Order 9066, written and implemented by President Roosevelt's wartime
government, puts the pair through undue trials when the family of the Japanese
woman is imprisoned in the American desert. Her husband, battling his own demons
and a brush with the law, must also overcome the prejudice of the woman's
Japanese-born family, slowly attempting to win over their hearts by showing his
loyalty and commitment to the woman he loves. It is an intensely personal film,
and it redeems itself (despite poor editing that managed to cut out the scene in
which the script explains the title of the film) through its character
development and masterful use of songs appropriate to the culture and time.
Director Alan Parker has often allowed his sons to dabble in the scoring efforts
for his films, eventually allowing them to completely handle the scoring duties
for his 2003 film, The Life of David Gale, and both Alex and Jake Parker
have a role in rounding out the music for Come See the Paradise. The
primary scoring responsibilities, however, would fall on Randy Edelman, whose
talents in heavy drama weren't well known at the time. This score came before
Gettysburg and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story in 1993, and it would
mark Edelman's arrival on the industry scene with a single, popular, minute-long
track in his score. Edelman's sensibilities for melody, naturally existing from
his songwriting past, would be employed to provide the likable charm for Come
See the Paradise, something he has done several times since. Compared to
those efforts, Edelman's work here is not as inspiring, perhaps, with the spirit
of the film calling for a very simple thematic approach rather than the grandiose
one that his listeners are now accustomed to hearing.
For the more focused melodramatic tone of character development in Come See the Paradise, Edelman doesn't feature the broad combination of orchestra and synthesizer that you hear in his later, more popular scores. Instead, this one is completely synthetic, with perhaps a real piano (likely under Edelman's own touch) conveying the personality of the score. The title theme is not very fluid, meandering between octaves and never really bringing out the passion that could have been utilized well in the film. Aside from one spectacular action cue, the score is short and confined to piano-dominated underscore, with occasional synthetic orchestra strings to offer a light volume of substance in the background. That one action cue, however, is the key to the score. The singular "Fire in a Brooklyn Theatre" is a rhythmically strong and powerfully building motif that runs only a little over a minute long, but it has become a staple of trailer music in the dozen years to follow. It is strangely placed in its own score, driving with ambition and emotion whereas the rest of the score is largely devoid of such depth behind its elements. Alex and Jake Parker provide a secondary theme for the Kawamura family (adapted and conducted by Edelman), and this theme, while equally frustrating in its simplistic construction, at least brings out a better conflict of emotions in the music. Two adaptations of this material were made after the initially strong introduction of the theme. The film and album contain several period songs in English and Japanese, including the snappy "Nevertheless," but viewers of the film should be aware that Ronald Yamamoto's version of "Until The Real Thing Comes Along", which is featured heavily in the film, is not included on the product. Edelman's contribution clocks out after about 15 minutes in length, and when combined with the Parker sons' theme, the score is featured for only about 20 minutes. This leaves the often-used "Fire in a Brooklyn Theatre" cue (and its subtle, but enjoyable piano reprise in "Lily and Mini") as the only notable aspect of this score and album. A compilation would perhaps be the best way to obtain this fantastic score cue, although Edelman's subdued title theme may also interest those looking for weightier material from the composer. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 33:43
* additional score by Jake and Alex Parker
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a short note from Edelman about the score.
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