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Review of Damsel (David Fleming)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are attracted to the more potently powerful thematic constructs to emerge from Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions style of music, David Fleming blending that mode with gorgeous fantasy moments as the narrative permits.

Avoid it... if the impressive intelligence in the score's six motifs cannot justify the darker, more challenging second half the work, requiring you to arrange a suite of highlights from the remainder.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Damsel: (David Fleming) Women often have nightmares about the various maladies that could plague their forthcoming nuptials, but few wedding disaster stories can compete with the plotline of 2024's Damsel. The medieval Netflix survival story offers more than enough clues in its first minutes that the wedding seen in this film is destined for problems, but that's not initially a concern for the damsel, Elodie. Her father's own lands have become a frozen wasteland, so they accept a marriage proposal from a neighboring kingdom of riches, Aurea, with Elodie to wed that realm's prince. All seems typical for an arranged marriage of this type, the two youngers and their parents initially navigating the situation as best they can. That is, until the prince throws the bride into a dragon's pit as part of a ritual that Aurea uses to appease its angry resident. For generations, supposed princesses of Aurea have enjoyed this fate, but in reality, the wicked leaders of the land (led by Robin Wright here in a hilarious touch of humor, no less) have been fooling the dragon into thinking that these girls were actually of Aurean blood. After an unlikely but necessary survival of her own fall into the lair, Elodie pieces all of this story together and becomes the warrior necessary to bring about the demise of Aurea. Needless to say, that kingdom is fucked. Despite some poor special effects, silly ending, and middling reviews, Damsel enjoyed significant success for Netflix, and it is supported by a frequently overachieving orchestral and choral score by regular Hans Zimmer collaborator David Fleming. The producers of the movie had a working relationship Zimmer for decades, and they had collaborated on the similarly themed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil five years earlier. It's not surprising that they turned to Zimmer again for the music for Damsel, and although the assignment was passed on to Fleming, Zimmer himself receives front-line score production recognition in the opening credits of the movie. To the effect that Zimmer's involvement impacts the end result, one can safely say that the veteran composer's full apparatus was available to this score, including all his studio's resources. Even if he didn't end up writing any material for Damsel, it is therefore a purely Remote Control Productions work.

Over the previous ten seven years, Fleming had been earning additional recognition for his contributions to Zimmer-associated productions, with some movie credits but mostly television series scores resulting for the American composer. This situation isn't too different from Geoff Zanelli's equation for Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, and Fleming, with the help of two relatively novice ghostwriters in the same Zimmer orbit, makes more out of the opportunity than expected. (Five significant action cues are attributed to Jake Boring while only one is credited in part to David Naroth, making the mass majority of Damsel a Fleming product.) The scope of the score is enormous, with the sizeable orchestra and choirs joined by soloists amongst both ensembles and a host of Celtic or medieval-oriented instruments like a carnyx, whistle, ocarina, viola da gamba, and zither. Hearing a carnyx in film music is a distinct treat, and it punctuates a few cues with phenomenal character. Fleming also uses both electric and acoustic guitars, but the former is never invasive due to its tasteful restriction as a supporting element. The dynamic spread of the recording's tone does quite well balancing the bass-heavy string and brass tones of the usual Remote Control sound with the loftier treble elements, especially the woodwinds and medieval elements in a resoundingly pretty cue like "Horizon." Most importantly, the female voices represent the various sacrifices of female characters in the story, from the open elegance of Elodie's theme to their chanted warnings in the ritual motif and layers of outright resurrected torment in "Phantom Princesses." After the score turns dark, Fleming does rely too heavily on applying rising-pitch, choir-shrieking conclusions to crescendos; it's a tired technique long past its prime usefulness. That second half of the score does dwell in a significant dose of misery, the groaning atmospherics and other mundane suspense techniques losing the smart glean that had brought such intriguing foreboding to the pre-ritual portions. Still, even in the less appealing horror and action portions, the score never loses its tight narrative integrity. The lack of satisfying action material to highlight the narrative's climax is owed completely to the rather skimpy running time of that portion of the story on screen, the entire retribution phase of the movie and score finished in just a few, head-melting minutes.

Casual listeners may come away from Damsel with only two themes in mind, but Fleming's work is far more complicated than that. Depending on how you consider the Aurea material, this score has either five or six themes that are very regularly developed and match the narrative with ample intelligence. Two of the ideas represent Elodie and her Bayford family while the Aurea setting is afforded an illusory idea for its kingdom while also supporting a deceptive offshoot as a love theme for Elodie and the prince. For the points of conflict, the rituals related to Aurea's hidden agenda and the dragon itself are vital presences that both evolve as the story requires. Elodie's main theme is the most frequently developed motif in the score, and it also represents the Lord Bayford family by association. It's an elegant tune that is sometimes only referenced in its second phrase, extensively explored in the end credits cue, "Elodie's Maze," that opens the album. The theme is heard immediately on solo female voice at the outset of that cue, its first two notes becoming a rambling, cyclical celeste motif underneath. At 0:50 into "Elodie's Maze," low strings start the theme with the rest of the phrasing answered by violins. The medieval instruments carry the tune at 1:12 before returning it to the alternating strings, an undulating interlude sequence at 1:57 building full ensemble suspense. A separate hero mode is born from this theme on brass at 2:19 and alters the identity to add more complexity over the same chords. The regular melody returns at 2:41 into "Elodie's Maze" with muscular ensemble force, the carnyx carrying the idea compellingly at 3:03 with a more natural resolution. The choir joins for continued brass exploration at 3:25 over the cyclical, rambling motif while the hero mode joins at 3:48 over the primary phrasing in the background for a massive climax. That choir closes the cue with the hero variant in quiet resolve. In the on-screen narrative, Elodie's main theme is introduced at 1:02 into "A Proposal" with the low strings on the first two notes and violins answering, the cyclical phrasing on celeste returning later in the cue under the hero version of theme and the primary melody regaining determined, focused form at 3:36 with a light fantasy accompaniment. From there, this main theme takes significant time to gain its footing due to Elodie's powerless circumstances in the story, disappearing until it generates some resolve at 1:06 into "Glowworm Cave."

The main theme for Damsel starts its journey to power by tentatively offering its first two notes repeatedly to "Pointing the Way" and capping the buildup to conflict in the middle of "Hunting Party," but it is barely coherent in defeat early in "Flight and Fire" as Bayford is unsuccessful in his rescue of his daughter. The idea struggles against dissonant lines in high volume at the climax of "No Shelter" but foreshadows the solo vocal opening from "Elodie's Maze" in "Accept Your Fate" and guides the resolute drama later in the cue. The main theme then informs the rather reserved action at 1:44 into "End of Your Story" against the hero version of the theme, the carnyx triumphantly paired with chimes for the theme's valiant rendition at 2:18. That hero variant of the theme uses the same secondary phrasing as Elodie's main theme but features an elongated opening sequence of greater confidence. Aside from the "Elodie's Maze" references mentioned above, this hero theme opens "A Proposal" alluringly, with some optimism and reminders peppered later. Its hints tickle the middle of "Horizon," and it meanders carefully on choir at the start of "The Dress." After shifting to solo voice as a premonition at 0:16 into "Roses and Ritual," Elodie's hero theme is barely evident early in "Run!," emerges from a charged crescendo with the choir at the end of "Pointing the Way," becomes fragmented in chords during much of "Flower Cave," and elegantly guides "Dead End" on soothing choir before a rude dragon stinger at 1:10. Its opening notes are twisted into a call of battle with the carnyx at the start of "War Paint," the theme achieving more form over groaning layers of defiance without its full victory formation. That more powerful stance emerges on top of the main theme over the course of "Accept Your Fate" and keenly starts to mingle with the dragon theme in the latter half of that cue. The hero theme again overlaps with the main theme at the height of "End of Your Story," especially on choir, and takes the dramatic place of the former love theme during "Homeward" for a noble ending that includes the aspirational elements the love theme had once suggested. That love theme is obviously a massive red herring in the score, and Fleming chooses to play it relatively straight. An argument could be made that it should have been darker in tone from the start, but by affording it a pleasantly traditional, romantic demeanor, the audience is set up for a shock, assuming it doesn't know the basic plotline from the start.

The combined material for Aurea includes themes for the kingdom and the doomed love affair. The music for Aurea proper is not too lush, but it serves the purpose. It opens "Kingdom of Aurea" with a mixture of hope, mystery, and beauty, and it continues with more hints of trepidation thereafter, giving it a strong creep factor as the Baylord contingency sees dragon statues and literal storm clouds in the horizon. The theme is conveyed by acoustic guitar at 2:43 into "A Proposal" with a foreshadowing of romantic renditions on top, shifting its progressions in "Horizon" to convey the more traditional love theme purpose; a lovely transition for the theme for the full ensemble is immense in the second half of the cue. This music returns to longing Aurea duties on choir in "See the World" before reexploring the straight love theme version thereafter for some deceptive warmth. The Aurea version of the theme at 0:31 into "The Dress" uses bass strings and choral suggestions of danger, but that anxiety is restrained as the love theme offers beauty throughout "Ever After" with choirs and solo woodwinds and horns. There is a certain amount of temp-track bleed from Maleficent: Mistress of Evil's "What is Going On Here?" in this cue, even some lingering James Newton Howard sensitivity joining the Zanelli reference. The Aurea version of the theme nervously accompanies the ritual motif in "Roses and Ritual," the love theme itself appropriately dying out before the stinger at the end of the cue. Chords of Aurea the haunt "Glowworm Cave" as sad references to the past while slight connections also mark the moment of discovery at the end of "Flower Cave." It informs the realization in the second half of "Royal Blood," too. The ritual theme represents the worst inclinations of any mother-in-law, and it's a simple rhythm repeated on pairs of notes, often for choir, but is adapted for battle when needed. With the whispers of past princess in tow, it debuts at 1:01 into "Kingdom of Aurea" on light choir as a background rhythm. In the flashback sequence, the theme becomes a chugging battle rhythm for strings and forceful voices the outset of "Once Upon a Time." It is very subtle in its entrance at 1:48 into "A Proposal," quietly opens "See the World" as a clue that something is clearly wrong, warns fleetingly in the latter half of "The Dress," and gains expected power at 0:42 into "Roses and Ritual." In its one reprise thereafter, it returns with organ and more choral nastiness in "No Shelter." While a very basic identity, the ritual motif serves its purpose frightfully well.

The final theme in Damsel is a critical part of the narrative, as it represents the dragon that shifts allegiances over the course of the story, requiring Fleming to adapt its tone to match. A simple four-note motif sometimes truncated to its first three without its resolving note, the dragon theme is conveyed deliberately on brass at 0:11 into "Once Upon a Time" and with menacing victory at 2:29 in that cue. Perhaps a smart foreshadowing of the dragon's first three notes occurs at 0:58 in "Ever After," but it becomes all business by the obnoxiously pulsating rendition during the panic at 1:39 into "Run!" It explodes on brass with only three notes at 2:56 into "Glowworm Cave," interrupts with a nasty, loud stinger at 1:10 into "Dead End," and stews in appropriately melodramatic fashion in "Three Eggs," a cue that leads to a more elongated version of agony at 1:52 but returns to its stomping original form at the end of the cue as the villain's (understandable) motivations are revealed. The dragon's theme continues its posturing in the middle of "Duty and Deceit" with clearer brass statements but becomes extremely melodramatic on choir and pounding ensemble at the end of "Flight and Fire." As the character realizes the truth, its theme is pensive on choir and atonal layers early in "Facing the Dragon," the melodramatic, longer version returning nicely on choir at 1:25 and the base motif adopting a more majestic original form with different (but still scary) harmonics at 1:56. The theme takes a contemplative turn on choir at 3:04 into "Accept Your Fate," becoming massively irritated but twisted upwards in its final note at 4:16. It softly meanders on choir in "Royal Blood" but shifts to its own heroic mode with impressive carnyx groans and percussion late in "End of Your Story" as the dragon executes its revenge against Aurea. There is no outward quote of the idea in "Homeward," but a similar (maybe pre-planned) three-note phrase in the hero theme suffices as a connection. The resolution cues only amount to about five minutes of major thematic expression, leaving most of the attractive music in Damsel to the first third to half of the album. Lykke Li's cover of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" for this soundtrack is lethargic, and that song's original tone was not appropriate for adaptation into this setting anyway. Some listeners may give up on Damsel midway through, but Fleming's highlights are outstanding and the narrative is airtight even in the less palatable portions. A fantastic 30-minute suite can be assembled from the long album, with the main theme representing the best kind of Remote Control power on the market.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 82:19

• 1. Elodie's Maze (4:42) • 2. Kingdom of Aurea (2:56) • 3. Once Upon a Time (2:54) • 4. A Proposal (4:14) • 5. Horizon (3:27) • 6. See the World (1:41) • 7. The Dress (2:02) • 8. Ever After (2:57) • 9. Roses and Ritual (5:07) • 10. Run! (3:11) • 11. Glowworm Cave (4:33) • 12. Phantom Princesses (1:28) • 13. Pointing the Way (2:07) • 14. Flower Cave (3:43)

• 15. Dead End (1:33) • 16. Three Eggs (2:46) • 17. Duty and Deceit (2:14) • 18. Hunting Party (2:09) • 19. Flight and Fire (3:23) • 20. No Shelter (4:30) • 21. War Paint (1:43) • 22. Facing the Dragon (3:16) • 23. Accept Your Fate (4:44) • 24. Royal Blood (2:39) • 25. End of Your Story (3:40) • 26. Homeward (1:27) • 27. Ring of Fire* (3:13)

NOTES & QUOTES:

There exists no official packaging for this album.

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