In Love and Deep Water (Crazy Cruise): (Takatsugu
Muramatsu) Amongst the plethora of generic romantic comedy and murder
mystery combinations on streaming services in 2023 was
In Love and
Deep Water, known as
Crazy Cruise in its native Japan. A
young, goofy but loyal butler on a luxury cruise ship is confronted by a
young woman who accidentally stows away on a crowded voyage to the
Aegean Sea because she's determined that her boyfriend is secretly
dating the butler's girlfriend and wants to expose the misdeeds. But the
two then witness an apparent murder on board, and with a slew of odd and
wealthy characters on the massive vessel, they struggle to bring
attention to the issue (which conveniently lacks a body) and solve the
mystery themselves. Falling in love with each other is a prerequisite
for the tale's resolution. Reactions to the movie were tepid at best,
the plot predictable and falling apart at the end, though the leads are
likeable enough to suffice. Humorously, the cruise line that owns the
boat featured in the movie publicized its use on screen extensively, but
aside from some exterior shots of the real thing, the movie was largely
shot on studio recreations of the vessel's interior. The almost
parody-like storyline and multitudes of eccentric characters in the tale
allowed composer Takatsugu Muramatsu to overplay his hand when crafting
the original score for
In Love and Deep Water, the music
sometimes overly obvious in the movie's mix. Muramatsu is a veteran of
writing music for Japanese cinema, television, and notable live events,
prolific in both anime and live action in his screen credits. His
songwriting capabilities are perhaps best known, though
In Love and
Deep Water exhibits a very wide range of his compositional talents
for a variety of genres. The haphazard nature of the movie allows him to
shift between sappy romantic material, precision mystery and intrigue,
beefy action, and contemporary coolness for the setting without much
need to explain any of his maneuvers. The key to appreciating a
relatively lightweight score like this is to absorb its stylistic
demeanor akin to A.R. Rahman's equally attractive but somewhat
insubstantial
Couples Retreat and not overthink its wayward
narrative. With the music for
In Love and Deep Water, style and
attitude is everything.
An extremely vibrant recording for a full orchestra is
laced liberally with eclectic ethnic influences, some of them totally
nonsensical but amusingly exotic for a cruise setting with bizarre
characters. While the symphonic elements do most of the heavy lifting,
expect to encounter usage of castanets, accordion, sitar, duduk, exotic
flute, acoustic guitar, celeste, dampened piano, boys' choir, and a solo
female voice. While things like the castanets are particularly
impactful, it's the voices that provide some of the score's highlights.
There is some Sissel Kyrkjebø emulation in the female vocals (no
irony is lost there in the subject matter), and the opening track is
sung by the British boy soprano group Libera, which is a regular
collaborator with Muramatsu on some of their high-profile performances.
Orchestrally, various woodwinds and chopping cello (sometimes waltz)
formations are frequently accessed for elements of mystery while the
composer can't resist his own piano performances for the romantic side.
Muramatsu has long been admired for his capabilities on piano, and he
uses the instrument here much like Naoki Sato does in similar
circumstances. Also emulating Sato's methodology is Muramatsu's layering
of light, slappy percussion to air out the soundscape, applying clanging
metallic percussion in a seeming emulation of busy kitchen sounds. (This
technique in "Conclusive Evidence" is actually pretty cool in its
extended rhythmic motions.) On the synthetic side, the composer offers
tasteful electric bass and drum kit at times for contemporary depth
representing the ship's appeal (think Mark Mancina but without the
Caribbean element), though these contributors are never particularly
intrusive. None of these performers supplies more than passing
dissonance in what passes as an effortless listening experience. There
are a few suspenseful crescendos for strings here and there, but their
tone remains fairly light. The score apart from the film is therefore a
breezy delight for most of its length, punctuated by occasional moments
of tonally magnificent thematic passages for both the cruise's ambient
luxury and the love story between the two leads. The melodic structures
are typically very simple, following vintage Randy Edelman-like
tendencies that are smooth and undemanding. The only obviously recurring
two themes by Muramatsu for
In Love and Deep Water involve the
vessel and cruising concepts in general. The romantic melodies are all
over the map in the score, however, leaving the work without one
overarching identity that would have benefitted it.
The first of the two cruise-oriented themes bursts with
energy at 0:36, 1:07, and 1:58 into "Starboard," with an almost heroic,
ascendant B phrase. That theme shifts to an action suspense mode in
"Silence" and again transitions into a straight romance idea in "Sailing
into Love" with voice. The second theme for the vessel is heard
throughout "Welcome to the Cruise" with a lovely and romantic closing
swell. "Cruise Ship" reprises this theme with even more character
borrowed, most amusingly, from Edelman's
Kindergarten Cop, and
that closing swell from "Welcome to the Cruise" is turned into a
full-blown fanfare at 1:58. The secondary phrase is nicely boiled down
to suspenseful incarnations throughout "Investigation." A waltz-driven
theme of intrigue for the corrupt familial matters of the plot counters
in various guises throughout and, if not for this identity's constant
shifting of progressions, most listeners would likely consider it
representative of the score as a whole. Highly romanticized on a boys'
choir reminiscent of a James Newton Howard fantasy score during all of
"In Love and Deep Water," Muramatsu plants the seed for this theme's
eventual incarnation in "Ominous" and during slight hints in the latter
half of "The Will." It erupts in the first half of "Jealous Texts" with
more than a little nod to Sato's
Masquerade Hotel, and it
bookends "Closing Credits - In Love and Deep Water" in similar form. A
separate family motif is introduced in "The Family" but never goes
anywhere thereafter. The real money is made by Muramatsu in this score's
singular romantic highlights, starting with a melody at 0:36 into "Maybe
in Love" on piano, one that develops into a more mature identity at 2:14
for the full ensemble. Different ideas are explored in the two halves of
the outrageously beautiful "Reality," and yet another different, softer
melody is explored in "Hesitation." Returning on piano to the more
tentative melody of "Maybe in Love" is "Beyond the Horizon," while
another related theme, this time descending, is revealed in the
literally muted "Little Heart." A nebulous combination of these themes
occupies the middle of "Closing Credits - In Love and Deep Water." The
lack of one or two consolidated love themes in
In Love and Deep
Water is a detriment to the score overall, but that doesn't diminish
the undeniable attractiveness of those individual moments. In the end,
this score is fun in its flamboyant moments of glitz, gorgeous in its
piano-led romantic highlights, and proficient in the suspense portions.
A dynamic, 53-minute presentation is available digitally worldwide and
on CD from Rambling Records in Japan. It's a charming experience
that misses a top rating because its wayward thematic narrative.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert of the CD includes notes about the score and composer in Japanese.
