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Review of Hostage (Alexandre Desplat)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you doubt Alexandre Desplat's capabilities in the mainstream suspense and action genres, Hostage remaining one of the most impressive expressions of overachieving lyrical complexity in an undeserving context of senseless death.

Avoid it... if you have never much cared for John Ottman's early melodic grace and instrumental creativity in the same genre, for Desplat's work here sounds in many regards like his own interpretation of the same approach towards intrigue and executions.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Hostage: (Alexandre Desplat) When the stylish shooting techniques of Florent Emilio Siri caught actor and producer Bruce Willis' attention, the French director was asked to helm the 2005 thriller Hostage, one of many attempts by Willis to recapture his leading status in the genre. The convoluted plot of the movie involves the dual hostage takings of an American money launderer and his family at the same time those with an interest in the first target's database of information take hostage the family of the primary hostage negotiator at the first scene. Willis plays that lead role, attempting to end the standoff in front of him in a way that secures the victim's information as to satisfy those threatening his own family. He eventually has to rely upon both the kidnappers and the victims in the first scenario to walk through a maze of plot twists to earn the release of his loved ones, and there's a fair amount of betrayals and convoluted motives along the way. One certainty about Hostage that led to its tepid response by critics and audiences was its body count, the amount and forms of executions in the film representing a display of the kind of societal decay that conservative politicians in America use to whip up votes from fearful old people who believe that the country is going to hell. While there was some praise for the director's flashy, almost art house form of conveying the action scenes, not much love was extended to Hostage from any group, the film failing to gross enough worldwide to be considered a financial success. Doing his best to compensate for the film's ills was composer Alexandre Desplat, another French connection with the production and a man who was finally beginning to break into the mainstream international film scoring scene after toiling with obscure projects in his native country since the 1990's. Throughout the 2000's, he increasingly became known for his complicated compositional structures and unconventional instrumental applications, often lending complex music to films that did not require such depth of thought. Definitely among these projects is Hostage, which, along with the inferior Firewell the following year, stands as a somewhat rare representation of Desplat's large-scale suspense and killing mode. Some film music collectors have long held a belief that Desplat's style isn't well equipped to handle massively tonal action, and while The Golden Compass and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 should dispel that myth, you can go back as far as Hostage to really encounter what many of his enthusiasts will cite as his most superior music in the genre.

There are a number of aspects of Hostage that will impress, led by the combination of interesting instrumental layers, generally tonal approach, and a collection of several lyrical themes that are developed extensively in the work. The instrumentation and its somewhat devious personality, especially when expressed in tonal methods during most of the score, is reminiscent of John Ottman's entertaining The Usual Suspects, though more obvious of an influence on the score is the quivering strings of Bernard Herrmann in the suspense cues. Aiding the orchestra is a variety of soloists that provide a sonic coloration that is almost bizarre given the film's plot, but at least enjoyable on album. Some electronic elements, including guitar and thumping bass effects, function well in this score, especially the tastefully restrained but still brash guitars. A solo recorder adds elegance to a character theme while harpsichord-like strokes and piano tickle the ears. The vocals of Hostage are particularly striking, ensemble choral tones occasionally applied but the solo performances of Desplat's own daughter lending a sense of innocence to the main theme. That primary identity is appropriately titled "Child's Spirit" on the album for the score, bookending the product with the solo vocal renditions of mystery and intrigue. The theme is extended into the score in "Hostage," "The House," and "FBI," the melody passed to the orchestra in those statements. The quantity of secondary themes is impressive, though none makes a significant impact. The most obvious suspense motif is a rising four-note identity that invades the action material quickly, joined later by a variation in "Drive." Somewhat muted are the progressions for the themes for Willis' lead and the main hostage-taker, Mars, though these melodies do appear in fragmented form later in the work (the former resolves nicely in "Talley's Family"). A singular subtheme of note is for one of the children taken hostage, and this recorder idea in "Tommy's Theme" and "The Secret Place" is so lyrically pretty that it almost sounds out of place. Most listeners will return to the main "Child's Spirit" theme heard five times in full during the score, another reminder of the slightly sinister but yearning tones of similar Ottman music. Quite remarkably, Desplat manages to keep his music engaging at all times, producing surprising muscularity in the highlights. The brass and string counterpoint figures late in "Hostage" are particularly enjoyable. Still, on the whole, Hostage sounds like a score of fantastic ideas thrown together in a tasty stew that never really solidifies into a fluid narrative. Perhaps due to the relative anonymity of the secondary motifs, Desplat's work is one to appreciate for its parts rather than the emotional journey of its whole. For his collectors, it's another highly recommended display of overachievement.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 61:41

• 1. Child's Spirit (1:50) • 2. Hostage (2:52) • 3. Canyon Inn (1:48) • 4. The Watchman (2:47) • 5. The Waterfall (1:52) • 6. Crawl Space (1:33) • 7. Talley's Theme (2:59) • 8. Drive (1:32) • 9. Breaking In (4:30) • 10. The House (2:20) • 11. Tommy's Theme (1:41) • 12. The Secret Place (3:29)

• 13. House on Fire (5:33) • 14. The Negotiation (4:02) • 15. The Choice (1:21) • 16. Talley's Plan (2:01) • 17. Screens and Shades (1:06) • 18. FBI (1:29) • 19. Mars' Theme (2:41) • 20. The Trade (1:54) • 21. The Killer (1:59) • 22. Captain Wooba (4:59) • 23. Talley's Family (2:52) • 24. Child's Spirit (Extended) (2:31)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes 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 Hostage are Copyright © 2005, Superb Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/3/12 (and not updated significantly since).