Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,588
Written 12/21/14
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Buy it... if you seek a continuation of Steven Price's sound
design-first, orchestral romanticism-second equation from the acclaimed
Gravity, a risk that produces one of the most challenging
listening experiences in years.
Avoid it... if you expect any sense of authenticity to the period
depicted in this film, because Price's sole focus, and one that needs
appropriately questioned, was on the brutal emotional impact of the
grisly film.
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| Price |
Fury: (Steven Price) Let us not waste any time
before declaring David Ayer's 2014 movie Fury to be an
extraordinarily unpleasant experience all around. That was his goal. In
his attempt to expose the "real" atmosphere of World War II in its final
days, Ayer pushed the actors to their breaking point, encouraging them
to fight with each other and forcing them to live, sleep, and defecate
in a vintage tank so that they could adequately prepare for their roles.
Lovely! There is nothing romantic or glamorous about this depiction of
an American tank crew's push into Germany in the final days of the war,
Fury clearly attempting to be for this war what the classic
Platoon was for the Vietnam War. Critics largely praised this
grim portrayal, one in which body mutilation and grisly deaths are
common and graphic, and audiences rewarded the film with solid box
office returns. The score for Fury is something of a point of
controversy because of its absolutely relentless, modern style of
addressing a film that otherwise attempted to convey the war, its
people, and its machines in as authentic a fashion as possible. The
assignment went to young British composer Steven Price, former assistant
to the great Trevor Jones before his own career blossomed in 2013 with a
pair of assignments that included Gravity, which won him both the
BAFTA and Academy Award. As a programmer and sound effects master,
Price's handling of the claustrophobic environment of space and its own
set of horrors led directly to his hiring on Fury. What few
people were prepared to hear in the 2014 film, however, was largely a
continuation of the score for Gravity in terms of attitude and
style, the composer choosing a very modern approach to the film. There
is no doubt that listeners will either love the balls with which Price
has tackled Fury or abhor his disgraceful diminishment of the
authenticity of the film because of his choice to handle the project
like just another opportunity for uniquely beefed-up sound design.
Taking the middle ground, appreciating his attempt to throw sonic mud at
the film to enhance its already horrific character, is probably the most
logical response. But to say that his often totally unlistenable score
is the best approach for a film like this may be narrow-minded, for
Platoon proved that you could make the same point about the
horrors of war by intentionally juxtaposing the wretched visuals with
incredibly beautiful music, puncturing the romanticism in a different
manner. At the very least, Price has created an interesting conversation
point, and one must be commended for taking a chance. Not surprisingly,
it didn't take long for Fury's score to earn some awards
nominations.
From a pragmatic viewpoint,
Fury is a nearly
intolerable and inappropriate score. If Ayers sought absolute
authenticity in his film, then why are all the same sound effects and
frightful electronic manipulations from
Gravity in this score?
With the synthetic pulses, grating effects, hazy atmospheric droning,
and otherwise a slew of non-organic elements dominating the orchestral
presence in this score, it's difficult to see how anyone can label it as
authentic to the era. Its supporters will argue that Price succeeds in
the emotional response, but that's a different conversation. You can
produce a very alienating and distressing score for an era by plundering
within its own instrumental expectations. Price does not attempt such a
move. The emotional element, on the other hand, is the remaining way to
view this score, and in this regard, he succeeds very well. The work is
an exceedingly painful listening experience, one that cannot be
recommended on album for anyone but those most enthused by the downbeat
topic. Price does shift well between the vaguely comforting melodic
material for the surviving character and the brutish pounding of the war
sequences. A cue such as "Machine" illustrates this dichotomy well,
Price in this cue (and a few others) allowing the human soul to reassert
itself through the otherwise oppressed romantic infusions of piano,
cello, and tonal meanderings that serve as respites from the relentless
remainder. For the atmosphere of war, the electronic elements are truly
hideous and unnecessary; imagine what Elliot Goldenthal could have done
more organically to achieve the same effect. To his credit, Price
applies voices effectively in this score, balancing deep male chants
with floating female solos as the Germans (represented by the chants)
and civilians (the other vocals) come into conflict. A cue such as
"Still in the Fight" is a good example of Price's wavering commitment to
his sound design, the brutal opening half followed by what could be
described as romantic strings and voice mustering the will to continue
fighting. It is at moments like this that his thematic material is
basically effective, but don't be surprised if you find the melodies in
this score to be buried in such a secondary role that you cannot grasp
on to them. One of the most disappointing aspects of this score is how
Price feels the need to regurgitate the orgasmic sense of relief that
explodes in the final cue. As in
Gravity, you encounter a tonal
expression of Hans Zimmer-inspired thematic simplicity, aided again by
glorious voice, to close out a score in a manner no way befitting the
grim journey that brought the listener to that point. It's a cheap way
to conclude a score that went so far to bludgeon you. There will be many
deserved accolades for the risks this score takes, but it remains one of
the most strategically questionable and challenging listening
experiences of the year.
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