: (Harry Gregson-Williams)
Director Ridley Scott's fascination with the history of the Old World
extended from his 2000 classic
in 2005, amidst rumors rampant at the time that indicated the
director was interest in tackling a
sequel that never
came to fruition. These vast epics from the times of Rome to the
Crusades have earned Scott critical acclaim and popular respect, and for
, the Crusades of the 12th Century are the
subject matter. In the starring role, Orlando Bloom plays Balian of
Ibelin, a young blacksmith in Jerusalem who rises through the ranks from
a common man to a knight and beyond in the process of protecting his
people from foreign Muslim invaders. Striking cinematography and an
immense siege scene at the climax of the film save the production from
the sometimes overwrought melodramatic sequences of dialogue. With a
solid cast and many of the same stylistic portrayals of violence seen in
was originally set to
maintain the same level of continuity in its film score. Long-time Scott
collaborator Hans Zimmer was reportedly signed to score
, but he conveniently switched jobs with his protege Harry
Gregson-Williams upon his own recommendation. With Gregson-Williams then
assigned to
(not exactly a fair trade in
terms of quality). It's natural to compare Gregson-Williams' style in
score, and while there are several similarities in the
underlying methodology of the two composers, Gregson-Williams seems more
interested in creating and sustaining a much more consistent underscore
while avoiding the outwardly obvious thematic outbursts and new-age
influences of the iconic predecessor. The 2000 score was already the
topic of valid claims of plagiarism by this point, and Gregson-Williams
had proven his talents in several large-scale efforts. Along with the
topic of the Crusades comes a more ethereal, adagio-styled score for
immensely choral Latin singing in
Gregson-Williams' score for this 2005 film is more likely
to be found on the shelves of classical music collectors than heard in
European discos, as
Gladiator was, and that attention to
authenticity in
Kingdom of Heaven in many ways would serve its
film to a better end. That is, if Scott had actually used it in the
picture as intended. Unlike parts of
Gladiator, the music in
Kingdom of Heaven won't blow you over with any single cue; as a
matter of fact, it'll take several of them for its respectful sense of
gravity to really begin to sink in. The primary theme by
Gregson-Williams is very consistently utilized throughout the work, but
rarely pronounced with great clarity and self-importance. Its smoothly
flowing chord progressions are often shifted between different layers of
the chorus and the orchestral ensemble in such a fashion as to remain
distantly elusive. No explosive brass statements truly define its
boundaries, but its effectiveness is ensured by the composer's ability
to use it as counterpoint to any meandering choral or string moment of
restrained underscore. The religious qualities of the score cannot be
missed, on the other hand, with the nearly constant wordless and
occasionally Latin-chanting chorus making a strong presence known in
nearly every cue. Sometimes solo and at other times with the resounding
backing of a diverse percussion section (Turkish musicians from
Istanbul, in fact) and a full orchestral ensemble, the 100+ member
chorus weaves in and out of the major key, keeping the score necessarily
hopeful even during its darkest moments. The surprising level of even
consistency in quality is evident in Gregson-Williams' ability to
provide suspense and drama without relying much on the bombast of the
brass section, instead tightening the percussion and his central
elements of the electric violin and electric cello. While orchestral
purists may not be thrilled to hear those electronic string instruments
in the mix, Gregson-Williams utilizes them well as extensions of
woodwinds in an effort to address the Muslim and other ethnic portrayals
in the film. Some may confuse the electric strings with a duduk, in
fact, the result of outstanding performance emphasis by the players.
Along with every solo instrument (and Gregson-Williams does seem to have
done his homework here), nothing in the ensemble is ever able to
overpower the chorus, however, and it's the Howard Shore-like moments of
beauty from
The Lord of the Rings trilogy that make this score
shine.
Very slow movements of thematic progressions (such as
the seemingly Zimmer-like opening chords to "A New World") never seem to
bore if simply because of the masterful choices of instrumentation and
choral integration. In light of that consistency, the
Kingdom of
Heaven score has no single weak cue as presented on its album
release. Perhaps the most important aspect of Gregson-Williams' work
here is that it remains extremely respectful in the face of religious
fanaticism, and as Lee Holdridge manages to accomplish in his own scores
for religious persecution and war, Gregson-Williams doesn't succumb to
stereotypical levels of overblown religious hysteria. The chorus borders
on this territory a few times, almost building up the kind of rhythmic
momentum that Don Davis fans heard in the latter scores in
The
Matrix trilogy, but the electric violin and cello, and especially
the vivid percussion section, keep the score rooted in its time and
place. The spirit of "To Jerusalem" skirts the boundaries of Middle
Eastern stereotypes without sounding contrite. The fact that the
percussion in
Kingdom of Heaven is genuine and not synthesized
rings out with power in the score, elevating cues like "The Battle of
Kerak" and "Wall Breached" to outstanding levels of sword-clanging
authenticity. Those action sequences do expose some similarities to
Gregson-Williams' score for the animated flop
Sinbad: Legend of the
Seven Seas (as well as James Horner's stock 2000's action sound in
the latter cue and "The Pilgrim Road"), but they are rather short in
duration. Among the more memorable moments of the score will be the
"Terms" cue, with outstanding layers of Muslim vocals, and the lovely
"Ibelin" character theme. This secondary theme is heard in fragments
throughout the score but is condensed to two concert-format
presentations in "Ibelin" and "Light of Love." These cues offer the
percussive base of Brian Tyler's
Children of Dune and eventually
add the enticing vocals of Natacha Atlas (whose performances here,
similar to those in the end titles of Gabriel Yared's needlessly
rejected music for
Troy, ring with an appropriate twist of
ethnicity that never sounded quite right in her duties for Danny
Elfman's
The Hulk). Speaking of
Children of Dune, much of
Gregson-Williams' use of percussion throughout this score is reminiscent
of Tyler's landmark television score, but, once again, there is no sense
of royalty to be clearly heard in
Kingdom of Heaven.
The hour-long commercial album presentation will take
15 minutes to really establish itself (despite the solemn religious
beauty of "Burning the Past"), though after another half hour, its
consistent quality will lure you into a level of comfort that is
surprisingly pensive for a film containing the scale of conflict and
brutality of violence of the Crusades. Gregson-Williams accomplished
this same consistency in his score for
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven
Seas a few years prior, and while you may be able to argue with the
merits of that score in the context of its genre (and the terrible
film), Gregson-Williams started showing in the early 2000's an ability
to infuse his music with a level of intelligent quality that you often
only hear in the highlights of comparable scores. Some film music
collectors will point to the composer's works like the previous year's
Man on Fire and disagree (and, indeed, his thriller music is
often challenging to tolerate), but you can also go back to
Spy
Game and, of course, his popular collaborations with the likewise
talented John Powell, to hear the roots of this ability. Unfortunately,
Scott apparently decided otherwise at some point in the post-production
process of
Kingdom of Heaven, and much of Gregson-Williams' score
was replaced by other film music and classical pieces for the final cut,
sometimes to distracting ends. Odd insertions in the film include Jerry
Goldsmith's "Valhalla" from
The 13th Warrior, Marco Beltrami's
"Family Feud" from
Blade II, Patrick Cassady's "Vide Cor Meum"
from
Hannibal, Graeme Revell's "The Crow Descends" from
Crow:
City of Angels, and a few classical and source pieces ranging from
Johann Sebastian Bach to Muslim chants. The placement of the Goldsmith
Viking music during the final siege in
Kingdom of Heaven is the
most oddly distracting of all these choices, and the director was
appropriately ripped by film score collectors for these insertions.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Gregson-Williams did not work with Scott
again, another of Zimmer's in house associates, Marc Streitenfeld,
becoming the director's regular collaborator henceforth. Fans didn't
take long to get hold of the recording sessions contents and pass around
enough of Gregson-Williams' music for this project to occupy three CDs,
however. And that's not particularly surprising, because
Kingdom of
Heaven is an intelligent and respectfully restrained powerhouse of a
score, in many ways a definite improvement over Zimmer's
Gladiator for the director.
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard in the Film: ***
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.94
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.99
(in 51,937 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
