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Review of Malèna (Ennio Morricone)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you just can't get enough of that predictable sound of
romantic Mediterranean scores with a touch of prancing comedy and
sentimental tragedy.
Avoid it... if the other, similar Oscar-nominated (and winning) Italian scores of the of era by the likes of Luis Bacalov and Nicola Piovani were nothing more than annoyances to you.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Malèna: (Ennio Morricone) Reminiscent of the
kinds of films that made Federico Fellini into a master of the genre,
Malèna was Giuseppe Tornatore's 2000 coming-of-age tale
involving a 13-year-old boy during the height of World War II. When the
most beautiful woman in his coastal town becomes a widow because of the
war, his imagined image of her perfection is shattered by the realities
of her unsavory habits. If the story sounds familiar, then don't be
surprised to learn that the production values of Malèna
are extremely predictable as well, though that didn't stop the film from
earning significant attention in America. One of the film's most
heralded aspects was its score by veteran composer Ennio Morricone. Ever
since the highly successful score for Cinema Paradiso, Morricone
has been a regular match for director Giuseppe Tornatore, with
predictably strong results. Morricone's work for Malèna
was one of the last Italian scores in a line of European underdogs to
mesmerize the voters of the Academy in the late 1990's. The popularity
of this score in Los Angeles came as no surprise; all you had to do was
recall the arthouse-inspired love that so many Academy members felt for
scores like Life is Beautiful and Il Postino to realize
that one of these kinds of scores was destined to be rewarded every once
in a while. The fact that Malèna was the last of that
string is perhaps an interesting topic for a different debate. Even
though traditional American film score fans often shunned the genre of
hopelessly romantic Mediterranean scores with disgust, Miramax Films
proved to be very successful in promoting them at the time. The same
year, Miramax was also successful in pushing Rachel Portman's
Chocolat into the awards mix even though it clearly wasn't her
best score of that year.
It has been said that Morricone himself promoted Malèna very heavily prior to the Golden Globe and Academy Awards nomination periods, and if so, it obviously resulted in nominations (though not wins) from both groups. So the question is this: is Malèna a good score? Yes. Was it worthy of these nominations? Unfortunately, no. Morricone's attempts at scoring modern horror or action films over the previous few years were not as successful as any of his fans had hoped; the disaster Mission to Mars was completely inappropriate within the context of the film and made some listeners wince in pain during its album. The Malèna score, however, is evidence of Morricone clearly in his comfort zone, and it is thus a superb match for its subject matter. It has all the classic and romantic elements of a trademark Mediterranean score, exuding not only the setting of Sicily, but also infusing a few noir-like tones in its incorporation of lonely brass in its solemn portions. Like Life is Beautiful and Il Postino, the bittersweet story of Malèna presents something of a challenge in its music. But Morricone successfully balances the fear of war, the romanticism of the coming of age, the flight of comedy, and the tragedy of loss. A lovely theme for the imagined romance is explored in several of the longing cues, while a jaunty descending motif of comedy (which coincidentally resembles one of Alan Menken's songs for the Broadway musical of Beauty and the Beast) lends more extroverted personality to the region. The detriment of this material is that Morricone has done this work countless times before and it's easy to say that those who disliked the equally similar Life is Beautiful and Il Postino in the previous decade won't find much new to cheer about in Malèna. The score's own inconsistencies also present a few problems in the flow of its album. Morricone's variation of the same general Italian sound is very predictable, a simple variation on the traditional romance/tragedy scores that had already been repeatedly rehashed by Bacalov, Donaggio, Piovani, and others over a hundred times. So at least you'll know what you're going to hear. The album's presentation of the music is perhaps one of the reasons for the score's award nominations. If a person were to listen to only the first six tracks, one might conclude that this is the best score of the year. Most of the melodic and romantic grace of the score is housed there, with string-dominated, whimsical personality that is truly endearing. Between the "Linciaggio" and "Cinema D'Altri Tempi" tracks, however, the score features its obnoxious comedy skits and frightful, troublesome cues representing the war. The last few tracks once again visit a more eloquent statements of sentimentality, but the middle portion of the score is so jarring (especially within the wilder comedy cues), that it is difficult to recover the listening experience from there. The album is arranged quite well, and, as such, the first six tracks are nevertheless very enjoyable, encompassing twenty minutes of superior material. There is a theory to be explored that Mediterranean scores like this will always have difficulty breaking into the mainstream of other regions of the world if only because the sound of the prancing and trite comedy cues is so unique to these European sensibilities. There has always been excellent romance music to come out of this region of the world, and contrary to the belief of casual fans, Portman wasn't the only one producing it. While nobody really thought that Morricone's score for Malèna could overcome the great odds of beating Gladiator for the Academy Award in 2000 (and, of course, another surprise was waiting for Hans Zimmer), Malèna is a decent score by any standard. Morricone collectors rejoiced appropriately, but for others, the score's sound proved to be simply too much of the same old flavor. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 46:49
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive credits and notes about both the director and composer.
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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 Malèna are Copyright © 2001, Virgin Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/2/01 and last updated 10/18/08. |
