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Review of A Knight's Tale (Carter Burwell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... only if you want the instrumental companion album to a
song compilation that so faithfully (and better) represented the
stupidity of this film.
Avoid it... if you expect Carter Burwell's score to suffice in its representation of the era and locale, or even if you're looking for anything better than mediocre fanfares.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
A Knight's Tale: (Carter Burwell) Was this a Mel
Brooks farce? Or was A Knight's Tale actually meant to be taken
seriously? Given the level of blatant stupidity on display in writer,
producer, and director Brian Helgeland's numb-brained film, it's hard to
believe that it wasn't intended to make people laugh at it. The story of
a young jousting competitor who masquerades as a knight so that he can
compete across the venues of France in the Middle Ages sadly neglects
all the nasty elements of life during that time. Instead, audiences are
treated to a film that tries to adapt the modern sports genre into an
inappropriate location and time, yielding critical disdain across the
board in the summer of 2001 while forming, with the help of lead actor
Heath Ledger, a loyal fanbase of younger viewers who didn't care about
the obviously laughable premise. One of the very worst aspects of the
film is its soundtrack, which places modern rock classics like "Taking
Care of Business", "The Boys are Back in Town," and "We Will Rock You,"
among others, in situations that defy logic. The film's disgraceful
attempt to inject a historical period with modern teenage hunks and
electric guitars was also a nightmare in the making for its original
score. The ridiculous nature of the story was destined to place any
composer in a difficult position, forcing him to balance the traditional
sounds of the time with the modern edge that studio producers were
seeking. After all, who would mind if a large, medieval brass fanfare is
accompanied by a wailing electric guitar? Continuing to take on
surprising assignments at the time, Carter Burwell was fresh off of a
severe critical beating for his unconventional music for Blair Witch
2. Undoubtedly, A Knight's Tale was thankfully very much
closer to the mainstream than Burwell often treads, but even here his
individuality remains. In the end, however, the score fails for the same
reason as the general soundtrack that included the songs. The cultural
identity crisis simply cannot be overlooked. Serious film score fans
should disregard these transgressions of commercialized stupidity as
nonsense and move on, and, come to think of it, the fact that this score
even made it onto its own album is something of a surprise.
Whether or not Burwell is to blame could be debated, but it is probably safe to say that the composer was stuck balancing two musical styles that have nothing in common, and not even one of the top composers in the industry could have pulled it off. Burwell takes a medium sized orchestra and uses it to make simplistic fanfares to accompany the time period, and in the process utilizes a series of awkward chord progressions to portray the medieval setting at a basic level of functionality. The composer's style has never been one of fluidity in its grand thematic constructs, and that tendency to stomp rather than flow is a major detriment here. For the showdown and competition cues, Burwell pulls the fast, almost Western-like rhythm out of The Hi-Lo Country and inserts it into A Knight's Tale, producing a sudden burst of energy that is equally enjoyable in parts, though completely out of context with the rest of the score. A lack of originality in these cues is a disappointment, because Burwell doesn't make much of an attempt to mask his references to the rhythms and instrumentation of both The Hi-Lo Country and Conspiracy Theory. Thematically, Burwell does establish the noble title theme on brass for the hero, a sensitive love theme on guitar, harp, and strings for the two-dimensional romance in the story, and an octave-hopping minor-key motif for antagonist. His use of all of these themes is quite consistent and, in the majority of their orchestral performances, they hold the work together. But the music for A Knight's Tale as a whole suffers from problems inherent in mixing instrumentation, rhythms, and chord progressions from two uncompromising musical styles into one messy product. No better of an example is there than the combination of "Cooked Patents" and "A New Worship," which tries unsuccessfully to merge medieval themes and instruments with rock and disco rhythms (the type that would make Lalo Schifrin proud), electric guitars, and a choir, causing the potential for any listener to suffer a case of the giggles. If not for the ineffective attempts to insert traditional woodwind solos into the mix, the music would have been better suited for a contemporary urban comedy or romance film. Defenders of this score will point to the several flourishes of orchestral bombast as a saving grace. The many brass fanfares, however, lack even a fraction of the resonating power of those from such a score as Jerry Goldsmith's First Knight. The performing group seems unenthusiastic and poorly mixed, causing period music that sounds more appropriate for a Mel Brooks comedy set in the era than anything to be taken seriously. The many source-like dance pieces and other marginally related period performances are a major detraction on the album, usually separating the tolerable orchestral pieces with mindless rhythmic noise. The better orchestral cues on the album are those that don't relate to the pumped up action scenes. The straight romantic cues, with an acoustic guitar and a reasonably affectionate love theme, are an enjoyable listen. You unfortunately have to sift through the awkward muck of elevated volume to get to cues like "Guinevere Comes to Lancelot." Ironically, A Knight's Tale is still one of Burwell's somewhat larger attempts at writing an orchestral theme of heroism, and one has to believe that a larger, better utilized ensemble could have done great justice to the action cues as written for the film. Most initial copies of the album had a sticker on the front of the jewel case that referred to Burwell's score as "Heroic. Romantic. The Rousing and Beautiful Score..." Well, don't let the marketing hounds fool you. This is no Legends of the Fall, nor was it meant to be. The advertised centerpieces of Burwell's effort were the two "St. Vitus' Dance" tracks, neither being very tolerable, and the second of which is peppered with two minutes of hidden dialogue from the film (at the very end of the album). As a companion album for the film, this product will not work as well as the song album for the hoards of youth seeking the material from Queen and ACDC, among others, that so blatantly stood out in the film. For serious score fans, this album represents the evidence of the buffoonery of modern studio flicks, aiming unintelligent fantasy and romance stories at an eager teenage audience willing to suspend any rational thought. Burwell has done significantly better in genres better suited to his style of writing. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 43:19
* not contained in film - contains dialogue
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a note about Burwell from the director of the 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 A Knight's Tale are Copyright © 2001, Sony Columbia and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/18/01 and last updated 10/12/08. |
