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Howard |
Lady in the Water: (James Newton Howard) You really
have to admire M. Night Shyamalan for speaking on behalf of the
contemporary fantasy genre in Hollywood today. The world of the
supernatural has been well represented by his wildly imaginative films,
and while the horror genre has never been too far separated from his
projects, his newest project,
Lady in the Water, is more of a
straight fable than his usual affair. Advertised as a "bedtime story,"
Shyamalan's first film for Warner Brothers introduces us to the Blue
World, and the fascinating interaction between it and our own when an
apartment building swimming pool mysteriously becomes the portal between
them. The apartment manager discovers a young woman from the pool who is
in fact a narf, a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make
the journey back to the Blue World. Dangerous creatures exist in between
the two worlds, and the narf needs the help of not only the manager, but
of the unknown secret powers of all the tenants to assist her journey
home. The tenants soon realize that they may all be part of the fable
themselves, playing to the usual twists on reality that Shyamalan likes
to explore in his films. One of Shyamalan's most trusted collaborators
is composer James Newton Howard; their previous work together,
The
Village, earned Howard an Academy Award nomination for his score.
The scores that Howard has written for those previous Shyamalan films
have been intriguing and effective, ranging (compared to other
composers' efforts) from average to very good. With
Lady in the
Water, Howard seems to have been inspired by the story of the fable
to an extent well beyond the other collaborations, perhaps because of
the romantic element of the tale. While maintaining similarities to the
previous scores that Howard has provided for Shyamalan,
Lady in the
Water exceeds those others in intelligence, delicacy, harmony, and
thematic integrity. In fact, in every regard,
Lady in the Water
is not only far more powerful and alluring than its predecessors, but is
an outstanding stand-alone score.
It may not draw much attention to itself at the outset,
but by the end of your first listen to
Lady in the Water, you'll
be hooked. This is a relatively rare occurrence in an age in which most
scores of this complexity require two or three listening experiences to
lure you in. Not here. Howard's score has everything you've ever wanted
to hear from an intelligent fantasy score and has, in the process of
bring the Blue World to life, become the best score of 2006 through the
year's first half. There are several reasons why
Lady in the
Water is so enticing, and one of them is a direct reflection of the
difference between the horror-influenced films of Shyamalan's past and
the romantic fable at the heart of this project. Howard's score here is
lush and harmonic in a dominant minor key, thematically rich and
compelling for nearly every minute of its length. It's the first
Shyamalan score that is truly hopeful at its core while still built upon
the deeply textured and mysterious foundation that defines these Howard
works. The title theme exists for the Blue World and is as magnificent
during its performances by solo instrument as it is by the full ensemble
and choir. Its simple, deliberate chord progressions are basic enough
for an Enya song, but when orchestrated as well as it has been in
Lady in the Water, that simplicity of harmony brings pure joy and
easy recognizability during each of its uses. Most importantly, the Blue
World theme is stated liberally throughout the score, ranging from very
slight meanderings of its parts by celesta and piano in some cues to
explosive full-ensemble pronouncements in robust, hair-raising fantasy
fashion in other parts. Another enticing aspect of
Lady in the
Water is its plethora of secondary themes. Most dominant among them
is a foreboding theme of evil that utilizes victorious, descending chord
progressions with a ferocity suitable for any good
Batman
villain. Though Howard does offer some raging performances of this
likewise-harmonic theme (including a whopper in "The Great Eatlon"), he
intersperses it well in lighter cello and bass string tones during
fluffier performances of the Blue World theme.
The effortless interaction between themes extends to a
third one introduced by flute in "Charades" and expanded upon by the
same instrument in "Officer Jimbo." This tender woodwind theme often
floats with ease in fragments over other thematic statements. A love
theme of sorts is introduced in "Ripples in the Pool," once again
performed by woodwinds, and is reprised in the "End Titles." Other
motifs and fragments appear throughout
Lady in the Water,
sustaining your interest in each of their variations. Holding them all
together is perhaps an even greater reason for the success of the score:
the constant movement of rhythm. There have been a handful of scores
throughout the years that have perfectly captured the perpetual movement
of water, and
Lady in the Water joins that elite group. Whether
on piano, celesta, harp, or string, there is a constant tingling of
motion in the score. Even at his most soothing and reflective, Howard
maintains a bed of rhythmic activity that intensifies when necessary for
the "awe factor" of the specific scene. The rhythmic activity is often
consistent under performances of several different themes within the
same cue. One such example is in the addictive "Charades" cue, where
tingling percussion joins the rhythmic movement in ways very similar to
James Horner's nature-suggestive
The New World, and three of
Howard's primary themes elegantly mingle without interruption due to the
rhythmic waves underneath. The orchestration and choice of
instrumentation in specific cues is remarkable (the rambling harmonic
piano is another Horner carry-over here), and the mix of the recording
offers a perfect balance between the ethereal reverberation necessary
for the fantasy genre and the attention to detail in each performance
that serves as clear evidence of the score's intelligence. The superior
handling of instruments extends to the more robust sequences of the
score as well; Howard often mutes his trumpets in
Lady in the
Water, producing distinct similarities to Bernard Herrmann's
Cape
Fear in both the slight dissonance of the muted trumpets as well as
the masterful use of lighter elements to capture the essence of swirling
waters.
The complexity of the brass layers in the phenomenally
climactic "The Great Eatlon" offers shades of John Williams' best action
writing, and Howard even throws in one momentous gong hit at the end of
a rousing statement of the theme of evil in that cue. Despite these
positive stylistic similarities to other composers at times,
Lady in
the Water is still saturated with the musical mannerisms of James
Newton Howard. He has a tendency to let rip with fantastic crescendos
for the whole ensemble, and
Lady in the Water has moments that
will remind you of the creepy scene in
Devil's Advocate when
every person in the world has been erased, or of the climactic moment of
realization at the end of
The Sixth Sense. The chord progression
in the latter half of "The Blue World," in fact, shares many
similarities to the primary theme for
The Sixth Sense. Fans who
enjoyed the propulsive movement of the rhythms in
Batman Begins
will be appreciative that some of the forward-leaning churning here
involves the same heavy strings at times. Luckily,
Lady in the
Water is mixed well enough to allow for a dominant bass presence
without drowning out treble elements. Also present in this score is a
handful of electronic texturing that has often accompanied Howard's work
through the years; its contribution is somewhat minimal, however,
limited in extended presentation to the latter half of "Ripples in the
Pool." The prolonged dissonance heard in previous Shyamalan scores does
exist in
Lady in the Water, but is often a slight influence
during otherwise harmonic statements. Only a few moments of dissonant
hits are to be heard, and are often followed by a continuation of
harmonic rhythms and themes that can continue for five minutes at a
time. The piano is once again a central element for Howard's elegant
side. Choral use in the score is mature as well, with the high female
wordless vocals suiting the subject delightfully well. Howard rarely
allows a full performance of the Blue World theme to go by without
accompanying the ensemble with the choir. Less obvious is the lower
choral accompaniment of the theme of evil, as in the opening cue.
When you step back and appreciate
Lady in the
Water as a whole, you recognize that Howard has provided everything
that you could ever want in a watery fable. It moves in waves like the
pool, it has a magical element of fantasy in its instrumentation, it has
loyal and memorable themes for every aspect of the story, and it builds
up to one hell of a tumultuously satisfying climax. The opening cue
teases you with hints of the major themes, as it should, and the end
credits pulls away and leaves you with a shadowy reflection of what has
just passed. With the exception of a few tracks, including the more
fearful "Walkie Talkie" cue, as well as the latter halves of "Ripples in
the Water" and "Giving the Kii,"
Lady in the Water is an easy and
enveloping listening experience on album. And even in these few moments
of electronic texture of dissonant crescendos, Howard always at least
maintains your interest with his intelligent layers of sound. The
handling of the themes, often in conjunction with one another or the
rhythms below, is worthy of study alone. The performances by the 90+
orchestra players and 60 singers from Los Angeles are as precise and
enthusiastic as those you hear from their counterparts in London. They
recorded 70+ minutes of music for
Lady in the Water, however only
42 minutes of that material was pressed onto the Decca album for the
film. Missing from the album is a significant suite of the score's
themes that was assembled for and recorded at the sessions, leading
inevitably (given the quality of the score) to some scrambling by
soundtrack collectors for that material on the secondary market. The
album was instead populated with incorporated music originally by Bob
Dylan; four cover songs of his material sufficiently mutilate the
originals almost beyond recognition. Both "The Times They Are A-Changin"
and "Every Grain of Sand" were altered in tone to suit a grim, watery
atmosphere (whether through alteration of voice volume or through
electronic manipulation of voice), while the latter two songs by
"Silvertide" are largely unlistenable, harsh renditions. Don't let the
songs (conveniently placed at the end) deter you from a short, but
rewarding presentation of an outstanding score. In its vast complexity
of layers, themes, and orchestration,
Lady in the Water is the
polar opposite of the concurrent
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's
Chest by Howard's good friend Hans Zimmer. Even within Howard's
superior body of work,
Lady in the Water is a definite
highlight.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.41
(in 63 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.39
(in 76,239 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film.