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Review of Finding Neverland (Jan A.P. Kaczmarek)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are whisked into a dreamland by the bright, repetitive rhythms, consistently fluffy innocence, and major-key melodic grace of Rachel Portman, James Horner, and Stephen Warbeck's equivalent dramatic fantasy modes.

Avoid it... if you are among the crowd who cannot long tolerate the ceaselessly positive, prancing attitude of the music described above, especially considering the relatively few dramatic interludes of genuine weight to break that mood in this score.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Finding Neverland: (Jan A.P. Kaczmarek) Despite the film title's Peter Pan and Pixar-like associations, Finding Neverland is a serious (albeit fictional) look at James Matthew Barrie's process of creating the Peter Pan tale and how it affected his real life relationships. Set in London just after 1900, the 2004 film follows the Scottish author's inspiration for Peter Pan, from the first ideas about the fantasy to the climactic premiere of the original play at the Duke of York's Theatre. Somewhat of a heartbreak story, Finding Neverland has a grown-up perspective about its material (and even quickly addresses the controversy about alleged perversion involving Barrie's love of children) despite a main character whose fantasy so entrances him that the real life aspect holds its own magical, fairy-tale kind of cloudiness. Allowing time for star Johnny Depp to master a Scottish accent and assuring that the film wouldn't overlap in the theatres with 2003's live-action Peter Pan entry, Miramax delayed this film by an entire year, a wise move that aided in the production's mass popularity during the 2004 awards season. Delays in release dates often benefit the composer of the film just as much as any other post-production element, and in this case, the final musical product was realized by stage and film veteran Jan A.P. Kaczmarek. The assignment became the biggest international success of Kaczmarek's career (despite his work on a variety of Hollywood productions in the 2000's), earning him an Academy Award statue and nominations for a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award. Featuring a story saturated with emotional weight and sentimental fantasy, Finding Neverland would have seemed like a perfect fit for a composer like Rachel Portman or Stephen Warbeck at the time (both prior Oscar winners for fluffy historical drama and romance scores), although Kaczmarek managed to produce a score that very successfully merges the light-hearted styles of those two composers.

The wide range of emotional appeal in Finding Neverland, along with the inherent fantasy value of the Peter Pan legacy itself, required an orchestral approach in the score from the outset, and Kaczmarek combined an airy ensemble with a children's choir and his trademark piano to offer the necessary depth to Barrie's imagination. For casual film music fans, the body of Kaczmarek's work of the era was likely represented by his horror and suspense material for Lost Souls and Unfaithful, two scores that definitely don't bring out warm and fuzzy feelings. But Kaczmarek's prior experience in stage writing suited him well, and his score for Finding Neverland is innocently convincing and classically effective without sounding trite in its majority. While traversing the varied journey of Barrie's creation process, Kaczmarek maintains a score that is consistently rooted in the author's imagined world of Neverland. Not a single moment of fright or worry is to be heard in the score, perhaps due to the fact that Barrie always had one foot in Neverland while the other remained in reality, but that constant child-like personality and soft enthusiasm provides for a very even and upbeat listening experience when the score is separated from the film. A lightly dancing rhythm often propels Finding Neverland in ways fans of Portman and Warbeck will recognize immediately, those rhythms often pronounced very delicately but deliberately as the work progresses. The children's choir often bounces along innocuously with the rhythm at its most playful moments. Free-flowing, repetitive string and woodwind themes offer a steady stream of classically-structured inspiration in the major key as Barrie writes and lives his story, the somewhat sappy identity for Neverland reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's The Mission and James Horner's Glory. There is a slight Eastern European accent to the underlying rhythms and their instrumentation at times (especially in "Dancing With the Bear" and "Another Bear"), perhaps due to Kaczmarek's nationality, but these inclinations do not disrupt the score to any great degree.

When Kaczmarek brought fellow Polish pianist Leszek Mozdzer on board for the production, the role of the piano expanded beyond its originally supporting contributions and gave the instrument an enhanced role due to several inspired solo adaptations of Kaczmarek's themes, the "Piano Variation in Blue" a lovely take on the Neverland theme. For listeners who enjoy these lightly prancing scores when they mature into fully orchestral statements of bright melody, Kaczmarek does indulge you at times, but not to the degree you'd imagine given the serious angle of the story. Fuller symphonic performances appear in the "Peter Pan Overture," the two play-related cues near the end of the film, and Kaczmarek's own overture. The only truly Neverland-inspired adventure cue comes in the form of "The Pirates," a moment sadly underpowered technically but basically sufficient in serving its swashbuckling purpose. The general lack of interesting layers to this score is its only major weakness, with the choral moments sounding much like a Horner's children's adventure scores (and Casper in particular) on a serious diet. Along with the added piano solos on the album (an extra treat resulting from impromptu recordings with Mozdzer after the score's actual recordings had been completed), however, Kaczmarek's score performs as well as any Portman or Warbeck fan could desire. The delightfully pretty rhythmic humor and melodic summaries of the nearly identical "Where is Mr. Barrie?" and "Forgotten Overture" are attractively effortless accompaniment to the deeper moments of melodic expression (led by "The Play and the Flight"). The score never fleshes itself out as one might wish for on the album presentation, nor does it explore the realm of truly magical orchestral melodrama, but the consistently pleasant attitude of its sways and rhythms makes for a soothing and enjoyable background listening experience. The recording is competently balanced, each solo element well enunciated despite a satisfyingly wet mix; the woodwinds in the vintage Horner-like theme during "The Park" particularly well highlighted. If an optimistic mood is what you seek, it's hard to go wrong with this saccharine hour of ear candy on album.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 58:33

• 1. Where is Mr. Barrie? (3:32) • 2. The Park (1:07) • 3. Dancing with the Bear (2:03) • 4. The Kite (1:37) • 5. The Chess (1:07) • 6. Neverland - Piano Variation in Blue (4:29) • 7. The Spoon on the Nose (1:28) • 8. The Pirates (2:11) • 9. The Marriage (2:40) • 10. Children Arrive (3:15) • 11. Drive to the Cottage (1:04) • 12. The Peter Pan Overture (1:17)

• 13. Peter (2:20) • 14. The Park on Piano (5:23) • 15. The Stairs (2:14) • 16. Impossible Opening (3:26) • 17. The Rehearsal (1:20) • 18. Neverland - Minor Piano Variation (3:39) • 19. The Play and the Flight (1:21) • 20. This is Neverland (4:01) • 21. Why Does She Have to Die? (2:05) • 22. Another Bear (3:11) • 23. Forgotten Overture (3:31)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a short note about the scoring process from the producer of the film.

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