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Review of Memoirs of a Geisha (John Williams)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are accustomed to John Williams' elegantly simple
and undemanding writing for intimate character stories.
Avoid it... if you'd rather bounce off the walls with the pomp and bravado of the maestro's fanfares.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Memoirs of a Geisha: (John Williams) It's taken
four years for this long-anticipated project to finally debut on the big
screen. The internationally acclaimed novel of the same name by Arthur
Golden tells the story of Nitta Sayuri, sold to a geisha house at the
age of nine and eventually trained to be among the best in the trade.
Not only does the film follow her young progression, but also culminates
in her love for a kind, but unreachable patron. As much a historical
documentary as it is a close character story, Memoirs of a Geisha
is a project that immediately attracted the very public attention of
director Steven Spielberg, and a film adaptation was to be one of his
triumphs sometime between 2001 and 2003. Scheduling conflicts and studio
bickering over the rights to the next film of final director Rob
Marshall delayed the film's production until 2005, but no less was the
anticipation for such a promising adaptation. One person who made sure
to work Memoirs of a Geisha into his schedule was composer John
Williams, whose relationship with Spielberg is so strong that he
composed music for both this film and Munich (the 1972 Olympics
docudrama) in 2005 rather than continue his relationship with the
Harry Potter franchise. Williams, like Spielberg, has had
Memoirs of a Geisha on his radar for many years, having fallen in
love with Golden's novel, and has long planned to use it as an
opportunity to collaborate with two of his favorite performers: Yo-Yo Ma
and Itzhak Perlman. Having worked first with violinist Perlman on
Schindler's List in 1993, a score that has achieved legendary
status in the modern history of film music, Williams then collaborated
with cellist Ma on the far less successful Seven Years in Tibet
in 1997. Williams would conduct both artists in separate concerns
thereafter, producing albums of those performances with Perlman and Ma
individually. There is no doubt that Williams' writing suits those two
string soloists well, and it is no surprise that both eagerly signed on
to be part of the recording for Memoirs of a Geisha. Their roles
in the score are appropriately front and center, and an easy selling
point.
As a character story, Williams' work for Memoirs of a Geisha is restrained and intimate, refraining from any semblance of the pounding, robust scores for Revenge of the Sith and War of the Worlds earlier in the year. The pace of Memoirs of a Geisha is relatively slow as well, being a light, rhythmically driven score for much of its length. It requires patience and attention to the details of the plucking and tapping rhythms beneath in order to be fully satisfied by the similarly drawn-out solo performances on cello and violin. Interestingly, it is Yo-Yo Ma's cello that makes a far more important contribution in the score, performing the elegantly beautiful theme for Sayuri herself. Williams then gives Perlman his primary role as the performer of the secondary theme served in concert form in "The Chairman's Waltz." While Perlman's performances are perhaps more intoxicating than Ma's in general, the cello really stands above and beyond the violin. Williams is very loyal to his primary theme, introduced in the opening cue, and it is Ma's solemn performances that provide the lasting beauty ("Becoming a Geisha" is the highlight cue). The evolution of this theme throughout the score is remarkable, remaining stark and barely accompanied until its climax in "Confluence," in which the full ensemble (including brass) provide one last noble statement. The concert suite piece appears over the end titles, and inserts Perlman's violin and the ensemble into the Sayuri theme for balance. The light rhythms that carry the minimally-constructed underscore cues are remarkable in their ease; only in "Brush on Silk" does dissonance interrupt the perpetually quiet and pleasant listening experience. The score is saturated with Williams' harmonic and technical styles, including a slurring of string notes that will remind of Rosewood. One interesting note is that Williams uses the shakuhachi flute in "The Journey to the Hanamachi" in much of the same wailing fashion as James Horner has done in his entire career (but whereas Horner does it everywhere, including his Zorro music, Williams restrains it to its proper ethnic setting), with the ambient sound design actually resembling Horner's Vibes for a few moments. Overall, Williams very masterfully illuminates Japanese styles and instrumentation in the environment of a Western orchestra to make the score enjoyable for the mainstream. But it is a very restrained piece until its final moments, so don't expect any level of pomp or bravado. Elegantly simple and undemanding. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 61:02
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive pictures from the film, but no extra information about the score or film.
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