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| Beck |
Elektra: (Christophe Beck) Picking up where her
title character's appearance in
Daredevil leaves off,
Elektra hit the big screens during the doldrums of January, 2005,
further fueling rumors of a
Daredevil sequel at the time. For
this spin-off, the first solo film of Greek assassin Elektra Natchios
takes inspiration from the "Elektra: Assassin" graphic novel and the
"Elektra Saga" from Frank Miller's run in the Marvel Comics' "Daredevil"
series (Elektra was introduced in #168, which debuted around 1980). In
her involvement with the Order of the Hand, Elektra finds herself in the
same predicament as the lead assassin in the hit cult film
The
Replacement Killers, serving as a resurrected assassin herself who
ends up befriending the family she is meant to kill and fighting her own
fellow assassins and their leader. Enthusiasts of both the "Daredevil"
and "Elektra" story arcs will find several crossover references with
which to be satisfied in terms of continuity, and Fox's films of these
combined characters were left open-ended for possibly more sequels in
the future. The style of the martial arts in
Elektra were meant
to rival those seen in the films concurrently sweeping across the Far
East, and lead actress Jennifer Garner, during a break from her work on
the "Alias" television show, fulfilled the role with more than enough
kick-ass attitude and ball-busting physique to make
Elektra a
sexy eye-candy flick at the very least. The high-flying action and
exotic locations, as well as a certain element of religious atmosphere,
allowed composer Christophe Beck to experiment greatly with the
character of the score. As Beck stated, "One thing I wanted to try for a
while was to create textures and music beds and edit and manipulate them
to create both strange and familiar musical elements." To accomplish
this, he first recorded a small orchestral ensemble specifically for the
purpose of manipulating its sound into an abstract sound design. He then
recorded an 83-player orchestra with which to layer the more traditional
half of the proposed equation. On top of this, a duduk and handful of
East Asian specialty instruments make cameos at specific points in the
score. Without a doubt,
Elektra is an experimental departure for
Beck, who was best known for his Emmy-winning music for the "Buffy: The
Vampire Slayer" television series, the light drama
Under the Tuscan
Sun just over a year prior, and a slew of silly comedies for which
composers never earn much fame. Of his 40 or so film scores at that
point,
Elektra was his best known assignment, and you can
certainly hear the four months of effort he put into its soundscape as a
result.
By no means is
Elektra a typical heroine or
superhero score; it makes Graeme Revell's music for
Daredevil
seem even more mundane than it already was. While Beck attempted to make
a genuinely fresh and unique collaboration between sound design and live
orchestra, the ambient effects leave the only lasting impression. A
theme for the title character does exist, but its role is significantly
downplayed by the seemingly more important need by Beck to establish his
atmosphere above all else. There are no swooshes or brass fanfares; as a
matter of fact, the performances of theme in
Elektra are
restrained and spiritual rather than heroic. Along with the absence of a
true heroine or superhero presence is the lack of significant or
sustained muscularity. Whenever a rhythm worthy of ass-kicking is
established by Beck, such as in the
Underworld-like sequence of
"Insomnia," that rhythm abruptly halts before you can truly enjoy it.
The martial arts sequences make strong use of Beck's highly creative
sampling and weaving of electronic bass rhythms and live percussion.
This percussion can, at times, test the patience of the listener,
especially when the volume and pace of the music is at full throttle.
The score has a tendency to degenerate into an overly-layered mess at
times, sometimes dominated by an electric bass that will test the
capabilities of your subwoofers. But a cue such as "Gnarly Gongs" rocks
the room with its outstanding percussive mix, and there are moments
throughout when a distant toll of bells or chimes adds a distinctly
intriguing fog to the score's other layers. Distant voices, distorted
intentionally, remind at times of Mychael Danna's ambient designs. A
sound design best described as a Muslim prayer call in "Stick" makes for
a particularly fascinating cue, perhaps even the highlight of the score.
Brass pitch mutilation in "Kirigi" is naturally more difficult to enjoy
apart from the villain's on-screen presence, and some of Beck's work
does wear on the nerves with its occasional overextension into the realm
of the bizarre. With a tame orchestral cue at the end (a woodwind
performance that finally shows a more human side than the rest of the
music allows), as well as one somewhat half-hearted performance of the
title theme in the final seconds (were the performers simply not
inspired that day?), the album leaves you wondering if you actually
heard a coherent, overarching score or simply a rambunctious, eccentric
explosion of wandering sound design theory. It's an interesting work,
and any artist should be commended for venturing into new experimental
realms, but just a tad too much of the heroine part was sacrificed in
the process of enhancing the soundscape. This score-only album follows a
song compilation released the same week as the film, and it's difficult
to pinpoint exactly who will find repeat enjoyment in this irregular
genre work.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Christophe Beck reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.06
(in 16 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.06
(in 4,996 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of players but no extra information
about the score or film.
Interview with Elektra Composer Christophe Beck
