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Review of Conspiracy Theory (Carter Burwell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you've always had a soft spot for Henry Mancini's
quirkier jazz material, a sound that is blown to massive proportions and
arguably defies logic in this score but is gloriously successful for its
humorous portions nonetheless.
Avoid it... if you expect the upbeat and redemptive thematic portions of Carter Burwell's score, for many listeners among the highlights of his career, to coexist easily with the challenging, chaotic orchestral suspense sound that saturates the remainder of the score with dread.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Conspiracy Theory: (Carter Burwell) A film of
immense potential that never came together with convincing authority was
Conspiracy Theory, the convoluted story of government corruption
and its affect on a neurotic conspiracy theorist who is unwittingly a
test subject of a secret agency. Mel Gibson delivers a memorable but
somewhat cheap portrayal of the subject turned taxi driver, obsessed
with purchasing copies of "Catcher in the Rye" and keeping his eye on a
good government agent played by Julia Roberts. The two become
intertwined in a conspiracy that begins with the taxi driver's
newsletter about bizarre government technologies and cover-ups. As he
gets a little too close to the truth, his subscribers are killed one by
one and he (and the good agent) must peel back the layers within the
intelligence community to save their lives. Among the notable aspects of
Conspiracy Theory was Gibson's occasionally ad-libbed performance
(sadly minus the actor's famous later rants about Jews, blacks, and
whores) and Patrick Stewart as the creepy antagonist. The 1997 film was
yet another failure for director Richard Donner, whose career was well
into its slow demise by then; Conspiracy Theory did not recoup
its $80 million budget in America and relied upon worldwide grosses to
generate its mediocre profit. The main problem with the film was its
inability to reconcile its truly frightening parts with the genuinely
humorous aspects of the theorist's quirky beliefs and behavior
(including a classic scene involving a government van and a vendor's
cart). That incongruent merging of emotional appeals was directly
reflected in Carter Burwell's score as well. Donner's productions were a
rotating door for composers, the director never faithful to one style.
The application of Burwell's talents to Conspiracy Theory turned
out to be among one of the filmmaker's better decisions. The score is a
challenging blend of high style jazz and dissonant atmospherics, with
brutal orchestral shades often lending immensely disturbing gravity to
the concept of governmental conspiracy. Interestingly, while the
soundtrack album lists over 200 musicians comprising the symphonic
ensemble, the score doesn't actually sound that massive, instead
suggesting the possibility that two or more ensembles were employed to
perform different parts of the score (with the significant differences
between humorous jazz and terrifying bombast in the music, perhaps one
or the other was a late alteration). Regardless of this curiosity,
Conspiracy Theory remains one of Burwell's most strangely
effective career works.
The thematic elements in Conspiracy Theory belong to the score's upbeat, redemptive half. The first of two themes, likely belonging to Gibson's lead, is the snazzy Henry Mancini tribute in "Overture," "Conspiracy Theory," and "Turning Into a Jerry." This cymbal-tapping theme is alluded to a few times in the suspense material (most intriguingly in "She Wrecks Me"), but the five minutes or so of playful jazz dominates the score in the film and on album. Blurting brass and saxophone are joined by pop percussion, groovy electric guitar, xylophone, and sleigh bells to create a truly rowdy atmosphere. The rolling rhythm under seemingly improvised piano elegance and high flying trumpet phrases from yesteryear are really unlike anything else you have heard in film music during the Digital Age. Regardless of whether or not you find it intrusive in the film, the theme is among Burwell's most memorably achievements of all time, in part because it follows a more linear, harmonic flow than most of the composer's music. The other major theme in Conspiracy Theory belongs to Roberts' agent, an equally affable idea of less frenetic movement that will remind many soundtrack collectors of Burwell's Western-styled title theme in The Hi-Lo Country. Previewed at the beginning and end of "Conspiracy Theory," the theme is explored in "First Date" before reaching momentous redemption in "Now You Tell Me" and "Riding," the latter a standout cue in the film. The remainder of the material isn't coordinated structurally but uses Burwell's usual tendency for menacing, low range brooding effectively. Deep thuds in the lowest octaves on piano are a usual suspect, creating an almost enticing environment of dread by themselves in "Who Are You?" Propulsive percussion, aided by what seems to be a taiko drum effect in addition to gongs and snare, represents the evil government conspiracies in "NASA Strikes." By the duo of "Brain Gravy" and "Wheelchair Chase," Burwell twists a carnival atmosphere into a harrowing escape cue of wailing soloists and layers upon layers of incongruous lines in the music. Some of the suspense material devolves into generic noise, as in "Searching for the Music" and "Middle Names," but it serves the film well. Listening to Conspiracy Theory on album takes a bit of patience outside of the extroverted Mancini-like portions. None of the many song placements in the film is included on the product, exposing the wide range of emotions in Burwell's work. The recording could have benefited greatly from a careful touch of reverb that seems to only have been applied to the metallic percussion. For casual listeners, the jazz and redemptive orchestral parts will be the only lasting attraction, but the twelve to fifteen minutes of that side of the score is well worth investigating the album as a whole. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 40:47
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert contains an absolutely massive list of performers, but no
extra information about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Conspiracy Theory are Copyright © 1997, TVT Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/21/10 (and not updated significantly since). |
