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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of The Help (Thomas Newman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if your love of Thomas Newman's music extends from an
appreciation for his ability to maintain beautifully restrained
atmospheres that merge soft symphonic grace with slightly exotic
rhythmic and solo elements.
Avoid it... if you expect the location and topic of this film to justify the same attitude and melodic appeal of Fried Green Tomatoes, Newman's superior, lasting benchmark in music for America's Deep South.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Help: (Thomas Newman) When author Kathryn
Stockett wrote her novel about African American maids laboring through
racist conditions in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960's, she
initially experienced significant difficulty finding a literary agent.
Eventually published in 2009, "The Help" spent 100 weeks on The New York
Times Best Seller List in the process of selling over five million
copies. When the story was adapted to the big screen in 2011, it was met
with equally surprising success, topping domestic box office charts for
25 consecutive days. Its translation of a $25 million budget into over
$140 million in its first month is an astounding feat for a film of this
size and topic, ensuring The Help a strong position for the
awards season. What little negative criticism the movie received from
critics was sometimes due to disappointment in the adaptation of the
novel, though the basic plot elements and historical implications
remain. The kind protagonist in The Help is a young white woman
who, upon college graduation, decides to write a book documenting the
challenges faced by African American housemaids by collecting stories
from them. While it takes her a fair amount of time to earn the trust of
the maids, the developing Civil Rights movement encourages more of them
to contribute to the book without fear of retribution. When the assembly
of these stories becomes a success, the royalties are spread between the
author and maids, with everyone satisfied about the societal impact of
the endeavor. The movie is largely the product of actor-turned-director
and screenwriter Tate Taylor, and to assist him in adding another
authentic dimension to the Mississippi locations so carefully chosen for
the shooting of The Help, he enlisted composer Thomas Newman for
the task. Newman has maintained a somewhat lower mainstream profile in
the years leading up to The Help, though his reputation for
instrumental creativity and a proven knack for capturing the spirit of
the Deep South in his music has been known and applauded for
decades.
The best of the Deep South sub-genre of music from Newman remains Fried Green Tomatoes from 1991, a score saturated with Southern flavor and exuding a substantial amount of defiant attitude. Gone from The Help is that overt flair for the dramatic (including, most notably, the vocal element), but some of the underlying temperament carries over. There is no doubt that Newman's role in the finished product is a purely supporting one, because his stance is ethnically atmospheric rather than melodically wholesome. He does reach for expressions of optimistic lyricism at times, but somber and restrained beauty in minimalistic ranks is the order of the day. As usual for a Newman score of this variety, the instrumentation and its incorporation into rhythmic phrases are key to defining the character of the music. While the composer can sometimes allow his intriguing instrumental colors to negatively dominate his works, The Help receives the same extensive intelligence but maintains restraint in their mixture with the more common piano, string, and woodwind performances. A perfect balance of this whimsical Newman environment over strings and piano exists in "The Help," a cue highlighting the more exotic woodwind tones in the ensemble. Likewise contributing familiar tones in several cues, led by "Jim Crow," are acoustic guitar and harmonica. But, as usual, you can't really get the appropriate feel for a Newman score of this kind without a partial list of specialty instruments: 8-string ukulele, hammered Appalachian dulcimer, pluck zither, cavaquinho, dulcigurdy, aeolian windharp, crystal baschet, processed hang drum, guiano freeze, holo shimmer, bell/vox grunge, distant whistle, copper and bronze vases, cymbals with brushes, clay marimba, kim kim, wave drum, vibraphone, and shaker. As bizarre as this list may sound to some (especially with the absence of brass and traditional symphonic percussion), many of these items are usual Newman contributors and are heard here only in supporting roles. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of their applications in The Help is that a fair number of them could probably have been synthesized without much notice, a result of their tepid placement in the mix. Those longing for vintage Newman techniques will enjoy a few slightly jaunty, plucked string rhythms, led by the musical representation of the main antagonist in "Miss Hilly" and "The Terrible Awful" (the latter exhibiting a slightly humorous tone for the famous "feces in the cake" story). The finale cues of "Amen" and "Mile High Meringue" contain deeper string ensemble orchestrations that hint at the rich symphonic side of Newman's writing as well. As you might expect, some of the most alluring moments of this mostly understated score are those during which Newman allows solo woodwinds to express themselves over the ensemble, another trademark of the composer's best works. Outside of bright cues like "Heart Palpitations," "Deviled Eggs" (highlighted by a wholesome interlude for full strings in its latter half), and "Gripping Testimonials," the score is content to wrestle in the background with the implications of the story. The tandem of "Mississippi" and "Celia Digs" represent the darkest corners of the score, akin to ambient synthetic droning but still conveying melodic ideas to some degree. The lack of strong thematic development in The Help is its most obvious impediment. Newman introduces his melodies immediately in "Aibilene" and very casually touches upon them thereafter, but it's not until the fuller expressions in "Ain't You Tired (End Title)" (highlighted by the slight twang in the piano performances of the main theme and reprise of the exotic woodwinds) that you can truly be satisfied with these identities. That final cue is a decent summary of the score's highlighting thematic and instrumental usage, despite its unfortunate dissolving into droning ambience in its final third. Overall, The Help is an effectively competent score that once again proves Newman a master of expressing convincing tones for America's Deep South. It doesn't have the infectious personality or melodic exposition of an enduring benchmark like Fried Green Tomatoes, but its respectful sense of restraint is admirable. The hour-long album presentation is absent source material and is a mostly tonal, effortless listening experience that will be a pleasure to appreciate for those seeking to hear Newman return to his early 1990's sensibilities, even if it does manifest itself in the form of somber, atmospheric grace. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 59:22
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information
about the score or film.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from The Help are Copyright © 2011, Varèse Sarabande and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/12/11 (and not updated significantly since). |
