: (Basil Poledouris) Director
John Milius' adaptation of Pierre Schondorffer's 1969 novel "L'Adieu au
Roi" takes considerable elements from Milius' penned
to form another film
about the utopian dream of the simple, natural life among noble
primitives during a time otherwise defined by worldwide conflict. In
this case, Nick Nolte is a World War II American Army sergeant who
deserts the service after narrowly escaping capture by the Japanese
during the battle of Corregidor on Borneo in 1942. He flees inland until
encountering a tribe of headhunting Dyak Indians. Instead of killing
him, however, the headshrinking Iban tribe in Sarawak allows to him to
live because of a tattoo of a dragon on his chest, and eventually he
becomes king of the tribe. Three years later, the war catches up with
him as the British parachute onto the island and attempt to enlist the
American and his tribe to fight against the Japanese. A predictable
dilemma faces the Nolte character, who by that point has long hair and
looks frighteningly similar to the look of the actor's famous 1990's
police mug shot. The philosophy of becoming a hero is Milius' focus
here, and though Nolte's performance was heralded as a success, the
predictable nature of the plot (with several contradictions along the
way) caused the film to be largely panned by critics and ignored by
audiences. The director's choice to force the film into the mould of a
love story would complicate matters. For Milius, however, the choice of
composer would be among the easiest he'd have to make. Having
Collaborated with Basil Poledouris for
, Milius would rely on the versatile composer (from a
time very early in the production process) to provide music both exotic
enough for the tribe and noble enough to represent a king. Also
necessary would be a musically romantic representation of grand vistas,
and all of this would require a significant orchestra and an array of
unusual percussive elements.
The employment of such an organic ensemble yielded
tremendous success for
Farewell to the King, despite the
composer's well documented success with the incorporation of
synthesizers as a dominant aspect of his career. The end result is still
music that stands as one of the finest obscure scores of the digital
age, one that is known mostly for its stunning ten minutes of highlights
but remains strong throughout. One aspect always prevalent in
Poledouris' music is a compelling theme, and for
Farewell to the
King, the composer provides no less than four primary ideas, each
receiving considerable development throughout the work. The most obvious
of these themes is the one of sweeping, romantic, and epic expanse, with
layered strings and accompanying brass straight from the famed 1980's
style of John Barry. Heard most prominently in "Main Title (South China Sea),"
the resemblance to Barry's broad
constructs and fluid performances in this theme is remarkable, but
perhaps predictable given the immense popularity of that lush Barry
style at the time. In fact, even Milius became caught up in that sound,
insisting on it from Poledouris despite not being the composer's initial
inclination for a film for which he originally considered a mostly
vintage militaristic approach. The other themes in
Farewell to the
King exist in various states of nobility, one being a battle call
worthy of Conan himself. In "The Battle Montage," Poledouris drops the
Barry imitation and returns to the folk-inspired rhythmic flow that is
more familiar to his career; he handles the cue with the same
rhythmically propulsive and raw horn techniques heard in both
Conan
the Barbarian and
Flesh + Blood. With its crisp percussion,
the theme dances with remarkable depth and enthusiasm, emulating the
same feeling in the tree of woe rescue cue in
Conan the Barbarian
in particular. Softer variants of this theme are equally rewarding,
including the closing finale in "Farewell to my King." A subtheme for
pan flute evokes memories of James Horner's use of related instruments,
though Poledouris always distinguishes himself by allowing a more
traditional orchestral woodwind to take the lead.
All of Poledouris' primary ideas are masterfully
referenced in the aforementioned cue "Farewell to my King," complete
with the banging of the composer's ethnic metallic instruments taking
the place of the usual tolling chimes at the end. In a score that often
uses the gong-like instruments as slightly dissonant accents to the
orchestra, the conclusive employment of them as harmonious accompaniment
is extremely satisfying. Saturated with Poledouris' heavy, dense
orchestral styles, the score reduces its dramatic grip rarely, such as
for the newsreel-inspired "The Training March" and an elegantly
simplistic and out of place "Imperialist March." Ethnic rhythms and
instrumentation also offer quick respites in the opening cue and "Day of
the Dead" (Hans Zimmer would take the percussion in "Realization" to
heart when writing
Beyond Rangoon). But the quality is never in
doubt across the board, with Poledouris maintaining harmonic integrity
and a melodramatic presence also heard in
Les Misérables,
though without the brooding bass mix. In fact, the strings in "War is
Over" and other cues significantly foreshadow ideas that would be heard
again in
Les Misérables. Simply put,
Farewell to the
King is an outstanding combination of all of Poledouris' finest
thematic and instrumental elements, except for the synthesizers. On
album, the score was released on 1989 CDs by both Varèse
Sarabande and Milan (in nearly identical fashion), and both fell badly
of print and demanded prices in excess of $50 for many years. In 2006,
the Prometheus label expanded and remastered the score as part of its
non-limited offerings, allowing it to exist on the soundtrack specialty
market at an asking price of about $17 for several years. The most
interesting additional material on the Prometheus product is contained,
not surprisingly, in the alternate mixes of the score's two major cues,
though none of these three bonus takes is so different from the
originals as to make them absolutely necessary. Within the score, only
the opening minute of exploration of the primary theme in "Flare of
Youth" is truly worthy of inclusion. The remainder of additional
material strays too closely to source material to compliment Poledouris'
bolder tones. On any of its albums, though,
Farewell to the King
is an absolute necessity, and it should be sought with confidence by any
Poledouris collector.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
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For Basil Poledouris reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.54
(in 35 reviews)
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