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| Desplat |
Frankenstein: (Alexandre Desplat) Despite the
concept's many dozens of cinematic adaptations through the years, Mary
Shelley's "Frankenstein" had long been an aspiration of director
Guillermo del Toro. Fascinated with sympathetic monsters, the veteran
filmmaker sought to show the tale of the lightning-animated creature
from a different angle, eschewing several of the original story's
parameters along the way. The basics remain the same, however, spurned
scientist Victor Frankenstein assembling body parts in his 1850's tower
laboratory and using nature to electrify a combined corpse that is both
intelligent and unstoppable. In the 2025 version of
Frankenstein,
though, the story is told from both the perspectives of the scientist
and the creature for portions of the narrative, the latter proving to be
far more empathetic in the end. It's a qualified anti-hero movie, the
creature unable to die but surrounded himself by death and forgiving
those circumstances to embrace a better (sex) life. The adaptation was
met with significant critical praise and awards recognition, though its
theatrical reach was unfortunately limited by its primary existence on
the Netflix platform. The soundtrack in the film includes several
classical insertions, but the bulk of the music is supplied by over 100
minutes of material from French composer Alexandre Desplat. Although he
had handled the director's other recent, fantasy-oriented scores,
Desplat isn't known for his lyrically gothic romanticism, and when he
originally approached
Frankenstein from a conservative strategic
direction, the director insisted upon a more openly melodic tact. While
del Toro referred to his desired sound as residing closer to "Mexican"
than "French," one might be tempted to think that he was pondering the
Western approach of Ennio Morricone, which itself morphed into the kind
of dramatic appeal that the director sought. At any rate, Desplat
obliged by minimizing the horror element in his music and instead
focused on addressing the hearty character interactions and motivations
with strings and choir, yielding impressive results.
Although there are technical and stylistic similarities to
The Shape of Water at times for Desplat,
Frankenstein is a
superior dramatic entry. The composer's general tone mixes baroque
movements, including waltz formations, with more modern romanticism,
almost all of it accessible. Wojciech Kilar's music for
Bram Stoker's
Dracula was used as a temp track in the editing of the movie, and
the resemblances sometimes survive in Desplat's own work. His
instrumentation isn't quite that morbidly heavy, though, his tendency to
retain rhythmic buoyancy taking this music along a less brooding path.
Desplat's orchestra is well-rounded, though brass doesn't factor as much
as one might expect. A handful of notable solo colors include Norwegian
violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing for the empathetic aspect, and Desplat
doesn't skimp on this presence, inserting those performances into a
significant number of cues. Of equal interest is a soft synthetic
droning effect in the bass (not Desplat's traditional pulses from the
2000's) for the creature's power, an appropriate use of electronics to
represent an electrified monster. Other, less frequent contributors
include the electric harpsichord in the middle of "Lecture," a great
tone for this score that is underutilized, and a church organ effect
that is likewise not as prominent as hoped. Still, the ensemble hits the
right stylistic feel for this version of the tale, the tonalities fairly
easy throughout. The action is sometimes underpowered, a common problem
with Desplat's music, but that issue is not disqualifying here. While a
cue like the pivotal "The Tower" isn't at a Patrick Doyle level of power
(few related cues will rival "The Creation" from 1994's
Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein), that equivalent in this score is mixed too
low for the scene anyway. Moments of singular fantasy elegance, as in
the middle of "The Castle" are simply sublime, and these passages are
littered amongst the broader shots on screen. On the other hand, there
are a few underwhelming moments; the atmospheric, dissonant suspense, as
in "Wolves," is adequate but not remarkable, and the rising tones in the
crescendo of "Tent & Dynamite" are a wasted melodic opportunity.
Desplat's thematic narrative for
Frankenstein is
adequate but not always well-defined, leaving some loose ends despite
each moment espousing the right sound in performance inflection. Also to
note is that the themes aren't always presented in chronological order
of development because of the jumbled narrative flow of the film, with
some ideas heard in mature form in early scenes before the setting jumps
back in time to reveal the origins of those themes. One could argue that
the composer wrote too many ideas for this movie, especially on the
softer side for the various characters. The general, primary theme for
Frankenstein opens and closes the picture, consisting of a main
phrase of seven notes of mystery and yearning that is sometimes answered
by four-note phrases of intrigue. The seven-note phrase is expanded in
its secondary performances to sometimes adopt the answer into its own
primary rendition. This idea is expressed elegantly or coldly depending
on the need, and it sometimes persists over an agitated string ostinato
or timpani rhythm for dramatic depth. Defined sparsely throughout
"Frankenstein" on the violin over the electronics with choir, the main
theme shifts downward in "Explosion" with the synths and choir in light
fantasy mode. Flowing piano renditions of light classicism in "Victor's
Tale" foreshadow Desplat's twisting of this approach into a prickly
waltz in "William and Father" with a sickly, depressed solo string
die-out at that cue's end. Lightly gothic at the outset of "The Castle,"
this theme reminds late in "Laying to Rest" on harp and in the chaos at
the end of "Don't Delay." Its elegance in the middle of "Forgiveness"
for a moment yields to no further development, suggesting that this idea
may be tied directly to Victor Frankenstein himself. That character does
receive two separate themes, however, the first one of grief that
becomes vital to the narrative by the end. Representing Victor's agony
over the loss of his relationships, mainly his parents, this identity
uses five and six-note primary phrases on strings followed by three-note
answers on choir. It's definitely the melancholy alternative to the main
theme and a redemptively prettier presence in the score. Since this
theme doesn't shift to represent the creature until the score's end, it
is largely absent from the second half of the work.
As heard at the outset of "Burning Angel" on the solo
violin over cooing choir, Desplat expands Victor's loss theme nicely
later over softly pulsating plucking, a standard accompaniment for it
throughout. The idea becomes more insistent in the middle of "Mother
Dies" before solitary plucking on harp, and that sentimentality
continues on choir at 2:23 into "The Castle." Gorgeous on violin during
the middle of "Awakening," the theme continues slightly on edge from
brass early in "Everything is New," the horns used like John Williams.
Pushed to urgent variants in "Fire" before massive statements with rowdy
timpani at the cue's climax, this theme disappears until a poignant
reprise at 1:40 into "Eternity" for the closing sunrise scene, the sense
of loss by Victor successfully transposed onto the creature. The
character's own love theme is elusive but dwells in a specific set of
scenes in the movie's midsection before the conclusion of the creation
sequence. Its waltz in "Victor in Love" is a flowery expression of
affection in a formal setting, and this sound carries over with more
sincerity in "Victor & Elizabeth," flutes still very prominent. After
being stripped down to a conversational ambience in "God's Design," this
idea strikes an almost crazed, frenzied choral tone in "Body Building,"
where Desplat almost emulates the carnival-like mannerisms of Danny
Elfman. The creature has a pair of themes as well, its main one
tormented and twisted around key, easily distinguished by a simple,
opening three-note phrase. The idea's ascending nature shows capability
and intellectual interest, though, and a secondary sequence of descent
represents the softer side of the character's learning. Previewed at the
start of "Lecture" and informing a driving electric harpsichord sequence
in that cue, this identity earns some warmth from the secondary lines
immediately in the first half of "Awakening" before reverting to an
immature form in "Everything is New." The creature theme returns to its
romantic cello from "Awakening" in "Floating Leaf" with nice piano
accents and dies out at the end of "Fire" on strings. Its more monstrous
form from "Lecture" returns immediately in "Creature's Tale" and reminds
of its darkness in "Recollection." Finally, this idea echoes at the
start of "A Merciless Life" and does not feature in the final scenes of
resolution as the creature is fully humanized.
That humanization of the creature in
Frankenstein supplies some of the score's hidden highlights after
its escape, built upon a fleeting, repeating series of descents that are
uncertain in their resolution. Explored with the promise of empathy in
the surprisingly upbeat "Family Life," this theme is tentative on piano
against high strings in "A Friend" with uncertainty in its harmonies,
eventually culminating in a lovely moment of embrace on violin in the
last minute of the cue. It struggles on strings against choir in the
first half of "Return to the Tower" and is less focused early in "A Good
Man," yielding to dissonant horror. As the creature is proven to be the
protagonist, this theme influences the opening and closing passages of
"Forgiveness" and accompanies the character's act of good will for the
trapped sailors of the story in "Eternity." Less influential is the
material for the shared love interest, Elizabeth. Desplat keeps this
music more nebulous, perhaps by design, but always simple and pleasant.
Though related to the creature's secondary thematic structures, this
idea is perhaps the biggest disappointment in the score. Piano and
violin explore its rather anonymous melody in "Elizabeth," though it
starts to form an eventual identity in the tepid, slightly erotic
"Elizabeth Meets the Creature." Barely intact in "Confrontation" and
battling moments of torment, this material exits with a whimper in the
first portions of "Laying to Rest." Far more interesting is Desplat's
experimentation theme that doubles for mad science and the actual
villain, Harlander. Rising from ascending seven-note phrases expressed
with slight malice or disjointed mystery, this theme menaces in its
rhythmic bass form at 0:27 into "Explosion." Heard on harpsichord and
later harp against the creature's theme on violin at 2:00 into
"Lecture," it's badly fragmented at the start of "Meet Harlander" on
celesta but totally explodes as it opens "The Tower" with muscular
rhythmic force underneath other activity. Consolidated on deep strings
in "Harlander's Body" with elongated phrasing, the theme devolves into
stomping simplicity in "Don't Delay." Even with all these themes at
work,
Frankenstein is a score that struggles to engage at times,
its long album experience begging for a shorter arrangement of
highlights. But those high points are magnificent, and the
violin solos are evocative when they need to be. It's an admirably
robust and smooth listening experience even if it doesn't quite capture
the epic scope of the melodrama.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Alexandre Desplat reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.42
(in 33 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.18
(in 17,637 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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There exists no official packaging for the digital version of this album.
