Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,855
Written 5/26/10
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Buy it... only if you seek to complete your collection of James
Horner scores with this appropriately introspective and depressing
piano, woodwind, and synthesizer music.
Avoid it... if you ever want to emerge from the foggy and dreary
atmosphere of this sparsely respectful and pretty score during its brief
and arguably monotonous running time.
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| Horner |
Extreme Close-Up: (James Horner) The topic of
depression has rarely been hammered home as thoroughly as it was in the
MGM television film Extreme Close-Up, produced by Ed Zwick and
airing October 22nd, 1990, on NBC. Despite positive reviews all around,
the movie went on to limited exposure and failed to gain a video or DVD
release. Starring Blair Brown and Craig T. Nelson in the roles of
parents of three children, Extreme Close-Up deals with the
depression and ineffectiveness of those characters, though examined in a
different way. The mother's attempts at suicide and eventual
self-destruction are viewed in flashbacks through the video tapes of one
of her sons, who is obsessed with living his life through the edited
movies he creates from his constantly rolling tape. As frustrating as
the mother's spiraling existence is, the son's inability to grasp the
real world is the troubled center of the story. Only by rearranging
portions of his footage into new montages can he finally break loose and
not only connect with reality, but also help to bring his ailing family
together. As you can tell, Extreme Close-Up isn't exactly the
kind movie you seek for pure enjoyment, and for anyone who has dealt
with the successful suicide of a family member, it's a touchy subject.
This film goes a bit far in pushing the topic, arguably, by making the
fiery automobile accident that claimed the mother's life available on
videotape, however, which seems too conveniently concocted. By 1990,
composer James Horner had graduated from the realm of television which
he had considered a place where many promising scoring careers go to
die. He was always the type to seek only the opportunities in feature
film scoring, though he did take a few early assignments for the small
screen. One of his later endeavors was indeed Extreme Close-Up,
brought about through the overwhelmingly successful collaboration with
Zwick on the previous year's Glory. Horner had clearly
established himself as a master of fantasy, science-fiction, drama, and
any other genre conducive to scores of substantial scope. The early
1990's saw a shift towards intimate character scores of equal harmony
and lesser volume from the composer, however, and Extreme
Close-Up is an early reflection of the resulting style of
music.
The score that has the most in common with
Extreme
Close-Up is, interestingly,
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,
which really only proves that Horner has maintained a great affection
for this type of introspective material ever since first exploring its
sparse mannerisms. The style of the score is purely Horner, featuring
instrumentation and progressions that are unmistakably his. The ensemble
consists of three performers, including himself and usual collaborators
Randy Kerber and Ian Underwood. They perform on piano, solo woodwinds,
harp, and synthesizer, with seemingly a quick contribution by solo cello
in the concluding cue. This kind of atmosphere, which existed for times
with the same very somber, slow pacing in
The Name of the Rose
and
Unlawful Entry, may be too simplistic to engage many
listeners, though Horner successfully captures the essence of personal
loss and alienation while adhering to obvious budgetary restrictions.
Thematically, the score relies on one idea for the mother, introduced in
"Extreme Close-Up" and expressed in turmoil until the redemptive "Final
Tribute." The pulsating piano and synthesizer interludes to this
somewhat standard theme rise and fall in patterns familiar to Horner's
normal contemplative tones, also shifting between his usual minor and
major figures as the resolution unfolds. The short concert arrangement
of the theme that opens the album release features the only spark of
life in this theme's pacing; it's all downhill in terms of attitude from
there. To this end, Horner does succeed in giving the characters on
screen a depressing backdrop. The woodwinds never manage to convey any
sense of hope like the flutes in Horner's scores sometimes accomplish
with their wondrously fluttering movements. The synthesizers offer the
same high-pitched environment of hazy dissonance that listeners will
recognize from many Horner scores (and
The New World perhaps the
most). The 38 minutes of music wafts effortlessly through the background
of your room and only interrupts the lightly pleasant experience with
occasional crescendos of the synthetic element or deep thuds of the
piano. Ultimately, a lack of dynamic range forces the score towards a
drab personality suitable for a dark, foggy day. The immediately
sold-out 2009 album of 1,500 copies from Intrada Records passes quickly
and quietly, and unless you are an extreme Horner enthusiast,
Extreme
Close-Up is the kind of score to be appreciated once rather than
enjoyed repeatedly.
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- Music as Written for the Film: ***
- Music as Heard on Album: **
- Overall: ***
Bias Check:
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.15
(in 108 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 203,547 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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