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| Romer |
Luca: (Dan Romer) After a series of acclaimed films
exploring serious reflections about death, Pixar returned to lighter
topics in 2021 with
Luca, a coming-of-age tale combining myths
about Italian sea monsters and everyday childhood friendships. In the
Italian Riviera of the late 1950's, sea monsters exist peacefully
beneath the surface and occasionally infiltrate the human population
with their capability to transform into normal-looking humans when not
wet. A pair of restless young sea monsters decides to seek a new life of
adventure on land, setting their sights on winning riches from a
children's triathlon to buy a Vespa scooter and travel the world.
Naturally, they meet a human girl in the local seaside town of
Portorosso, their priorities change, and they ultimately reveal
themselves to the townsfolk in redemptive Pixar/Disney fashion. Received
extremely well,
Luca is championed as a "coming out" story
despite no such sociological intentions by Pixar veteran but first-time
feature director Enrico Casarosa. The movie was intended to be the
studio's major 2021 theatrical release, but it ultimately gained its
broad audience mostly on Disney's streaming platform. The settings and
interactions of
Luca were intentionally modeled after Federico
Fellini and classic Italian cinema standards, and that personality has a
heavy impact on the movie's soundtrack. The film utilizes a wide variety
of vintage Italian opera and film music, Casarosa not afraid to play up
the ethnic element through music. Surprisingly, he hired rock
producer-turned-composer Dan Romer because of his unconventional, catchy
music for
Beasts of the Southern Wild and the just-preceding
Wendy. Romer had also been in the news at the time for his
assignment to the James Bond franchise, though creative differences sent
him packing from that project. For
Luca, he found himself
originally applying experimental, dreamy tones to the concept before
Casarosa redirected him to the Italian folk and classical standards he
had in mind (not an unwise choice), and after Romer originally went too
heavy on the Italian flavor in his next stab at the music, a comfortable
balance between the ethnic conventions and Romer's experimental
inclinations was reached.
There is undoubtedly a touch of Ennio Morricone, Nino
Rota, Luis Bacalov, and Nicola Piovani to be heard in aspects of Romer's
approach to
Luca, primarily in the generally smaller and more
intimate sound to the score. The instrumental flavor may get all the
headlines, but it's really the constrained scope of the score's
soundscape that defines the tale's era and story. While 82 musicians
were used, they were recorded separately due to pandemic protocols, and
Romer intentionally kept the depth of the orchestra's sections limited
so that even the fully symphonic portions appeal to memories of vintage
Italian film scores. For some listeners, this restrained sound will seem
odd for a Pixar fantasy flick, and the lack of depth does hinder the
experience on album, but the decision is understandable and helps Romer
realize the dry, intimate sound he seems to prefer. Instrumentally, the
players are highlighted by mandolin, accordion (courtesy Romer himself),
clarinet, and acoustic guitar, the string section also plucking its
lines more often than not. Percussion is not to be overlooked, either,
as many of the score's highlights offer rambunctious drum activity. That
said, metallic percussion is so incredibly dry in the mix as to be
ineffective. (Cymbal hits really suffer in this score.) Some electronic
embellishment can be heard in the underwater and early aspirational
sequences, and these applications work well. The tone of the score is
pitch-perfect, Romer truly excelling at capturing the free spirit,
enthusiasm, and action elements. His handling of the "Mickey Mousing"
techniques when needed is smart, and never does this score become
substantially obnoxious. Even in the two themes for the villainous human
boy and Luca's bumbling parents, the composer addresses their humor and
danger without breaking the generally positive personality of the whole.
Few scores yield such seemingly effortless optimism, a product of
Romer's major-key sincerity and intelligent pacing. The score also
features one of the most upbeat conclusions to an animated movie of
late, Romer succeeding despite a prominent song placement and somewhat
muddled thematic core to the story. Lack of clarity in the many themes
of the score, despite their impressive intertwining, is the unfortunate
downside to the work. These animated films require easy melodic
attributions, and while
Luca has some great themes, they don't
always develop in ways that make sense.
Romer's seven themes for
Luca range from
enchantingly fantastic to adequately mediocre, and detractors of this
score will be quick to mention that the composer seemed more intent on
the coloration of his motifs than the structural development of them. He
has stated that the main set of themes for the three lead characters was
harmonized in such a way that they could intermingle with each other
liberally, and he does achieve this end. But there are nagging issues
with most of the themes that cloud the narrative of the score, as both
Romer's attributions and evolution of the ideas typically leave too many
questions unanswered. The primary theme of the film supposedly belongs
to Luca, but the heart of the story is Alberto's theme. This idea for
the second sea monster boy receives the most manipulation over the
course of the score, from enthusiasm to heartbreak and all-out action.
It comes to represent the adventure of the children at the macro level
and is by far the most frequently referenced. The idea debuts in the
soft plucking to open "You Forgot Your Harpoon" before a spritely shift
at 1:24 into " Walking is Just Like Swimming" and manic action during
"You Hold the Ramp." Exuberant majesty for the full ensemble, and
especially brass, awaits for the theme in "Silenzio Bruno," trumpet and
ambitious percussion taking it at 1:06 into "That's the Dream" and
building to a main statement at 1:05 into "Take Me, Gravity." The
theme's versatility is exposed by mystical keyboarding at 0:42 into
"Buonanotte, Boys." It opens "Rules Are for Rule People" and follows
Luca's theme nicely, almost like a natural interlude at 2:23 into
"Telescope." Brief, very Italian flavor conveys the theme at 0:41 into
"Beyond the Solar System," and hints stew at 1:57 into "The Sea Monster"
before an absolutely pivotal moment of betrayal and fear translates the
melody into massive tragedy at 2:58. The theme is smartly fragmented,
sometimes in chords only, during "I Wish I Could Take It Back," Romer
ending the cue with an optimistic, less complicated variation. A soft,
brief moment for the theme exists at 4:21 into "The Portorosso Cup," and
the composer wraps it up with a bright accordion performance at 1:21
into "How to Find the Good Ones." A comical action variant of this theme
occurs at 2:04 into "This Isn't Any Old Race," in a brief explosion at
1:38 into "Buongiorno Massimo," as counterpoint to Alberto's theme at
the start of "Rules Are for Rule People," and in melodramatic hints at
6:28 into "The Portorosso Cup."
The idea for the titular character in
Luca,
meanwhile, is more attractive and wondrous but also oddly underutilized
and lacking in the same evolution as Alberto's theme. In "Meet Luca,"
you are introduced to the theme at 1:35 by clarinet and at 3:39 by
carefree whistling. A subdued performance returns at 1:09 into "The
Curious Fish," but Romer reprises the opening cue's style in "Vespa
è Libertà," dreamy whistling over accordion at 0:11 and
later again with the clarinet. Romer blends his action and dreamy modes
for the theme at 1:23 into "That's the Dream," though the performance is
interrupted by suspense. After a reference at 0:31 into "Rules Are for
Rule People," the composer unleashes a lovely, flighty string romance
over accordion and piano at 2:03 into "Telescope." Several passages in
"The Portorosso Cup" access the theme, ominous and nervous on low
strings early to a brief suspense interlude in the action at 1:58 and
the underlying chords only in a large statement at 5:16. Only those
chords again are featured at 0:49 into "Go Find Out for Me" (an oddly
anonymous understatement for that moment) before the theme finally
erupts one last time at 1:17 with what sounds like some tasteful
electric guitar accompaniment. The third major theme in
Luca may
be largely indistinguishable for many listeners, some of whom will
probably confuse it with the identity for Portorosso. Giulia's theme
(representing the human girl) was meant to espouse the most Italian
flavor of the three main themes, but that mantle also belongs to the
Portorosso music, and Romer doesn't do much to distinguish them aside
from supplying a bed of hyperactive, optimistically plucked and struck
rhythms during moments of prominence for Giulia. Her idea slides by in
the middle portions of "Buonanotte, Boys" and "Telescope," a flowery bed
of guitars joining during "Beyond the Solar System." The plucky
personality of the theme persists into the middle of "The Portorosso
Cup" and is sent off at 1:47 into "How to Find the Good Ones." The
associated Portorosso theme for the locale is fleeting in its instances
at 0:55 into "The Curious Fish," 1:23 into "Bottom of the Ocean," on
mandolin at 0:12 into "Portorosso," with rhythmic flair early in "This
Isn't Any Old Race," changing into an action variant at 1:16 into "The
Portorosso Cup," and joining the resolution at 0:53 and 4:29 into "How
to Find the Good Ones." The burst of romantic string whimsy at 0:35 into
"Portorosso" seems, incidentally, like another variation on Alberto's
theme.
The two prominent secondary themes in
Luca are
far more consistently applied by Romer. The boy villain is treated to a
stomping little minor-key descent laced with the Italian
instrumentation. Previewed at 0:04 into "Signor Vespa," the idea
announces itself at 0:25. It remains slightly ominous during all of "The
Out of Town Weirdo Tax" and becomes a bit more mysterious at 0:56 into
"We Don't Need Anybody." Its chords inform the opening of "The Sea
Monster." Even more obvious (and a tad annoying) is the theme for Luca's
obnoxious parents, a quirky duet performed to a march step by bass
clarinet and tuba. A slight preview in "Did You Hide" is followed by
full performances at 0:22 into "Land Monsters Everywhere" and 2:01 into
"Buongiorno Massimo," which offers more rhythmic flair but not much
other development. A little more comedy attitude aids the theme at the
outset of "Not Our Kid." Together, these themes are almost always
present in some form or another, but they don't always present
themselves clearly enough to have an impact, especially the relatively
elusive Giulia melody. On the other hand, the themes play uniquely
because of their distinctive character, with only a few moments of this
whole score that will remind you of anything other than previous Romer
works. (The most obvious of these are the vague
Jaws parody at
the outset of "Meet Luca" and a passing, coincidental connection between
the secondary phrases of Alberto's theme and part of the "Winnie the
Pooh" song by the Sherman Brothers.) Still, Romer manages a rare feat in
how he concludes
Luca; he offers an admirably satisfying
resolution of the narrative at the end despite the film's song usage and
despite the fact that his themes are not really wrapped well in the
final two cues. Why, for instance, use only the underlying chords of
Luca's theme during "Go Find Out for Me" rather than allow a victory lap
for the actual melody during that cue? Likewise, the action material in
Luca, highlighted by the robust and entertaining throwback to
Italian enthusiasm of a prior generation in "The Portorosso Cup,"
struggles at times to adapt the main themes into a truly convincing
action mode. The romantic portions have a bit more luck, but moments of
magical connection like "Telescope" are not aided by the sparse mix.
Ultimately, though, it's the lack of adequate development for Luca's
theme that detracts the most from the otherwise enjoyable score; it's a
truly fabulous melody that deserves expanded upon in the inevitable
sequel. Many listeners won't care about any of these quibbles, however,
for Romer's lovable and smooth Italian character for
Luca will
easily carry the day for most.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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