The Nun: (Abel Korzeniowski) The absurdity of
religious fear is exploited mercilessly in the franchise of films based
on 2013's
The Conjuring. Paranormal exploration can be quite
entertaining so long as it avoids tired recapitulations of organized
religion's oldest battles between good and evil; by the prequel spin-off
The Nun in 2018, the concept had fully embraced the tried and
tested formula, to the detriment of critical response. Not only are
audiences treated to the illogical fallacies inherent in horror films to
begin with, but they have to reconcile poor interpretations of religious
scripture and all the ridiculous notions that exist within. Still,
audiences made
The Nun the top-grossing entry in the franchise to
date, so demon versus nun battles with possessions, exorcisms, the
supposed blood of Christ all thrown about in stereotypical Roman
Catholic trappings must still appeal. In this case, a young nun is
tasked with helping a clergyman investigate a suicide in a 1952 Romanian
monastery that is, most conveniently for this film, fantastically creepy
and revealed to be a castle built by a duke obsessed with the occult.
Lovely. Why can't somebody set one of these films in the Tillamook
cheese factory in Oregon instead? Or, better yet, the Houston Astrodome?
Alas, viewers feast their eyes on the gothic environment in these
predictable horror romps, and the soundscape is meant to scare them just
the same. In steps the prototypical horror film score. Horror genre
veteran Joseph Bishara had handled the music for the initial three
movies in the franchise, but others have now stepped in with their
involvement, including young Polish phenom Abel Korzeniowski with
The
Nun. The assignment is really no surprise for Korzeniowski, who has
tossed aside the reputation he earned in the early 2010's as a master of
romance and embraced the thriller genre wholeheartedly since.
Ironically, the result of his endeavors for
The Nun really
doesn't differ much from what Bishara had produced for the two
The
Conjuring films, the entire lot of them applying largely the same
ideas to the equation. With the historical religious aspect comes
Korzeniowski's more refined sense of classicism, which bleeds through in
a small handful of cues in
The Nun. The composer declines the
electronic embellishments of Bishara but continues the outright abuse of
organic symphonic performances, most of which seemingly provided as-is
without the aid of obvious post-production manipulation.
There is no doubt an enhanced level of intelligence in
Korzeniowski's take on the same sound, but his polished sensibilities
largely get lost in
The Nun because he doesn't attempt to stray
far from the charted course. Certainly, Bishara could have handled this
assignment easily and few would have noticed a difference. The orchestra
is abused mightily in this nasty, avant-garde soundscape, instruments
instructed to mutilate their sounds in creative ways that have, for the
most part, been attempted before. String players apply their bows to
produce ghastly sounds, flutes wildly flutter about in a panic, and
rarely do the brass express linear, tonal lines to join their blasts of
fright. To the joy of any HVAC repair-man, they mimic every
malfunctioning piece of machinery imaginable. Significant duties are
assigned to the choir and a solo throat singer, sounds familiar to
Bishara's entries. For a film with gothic, religious settings and
associated fantasy horror, it's unfortunate that Korzeniowski does not
attempt to produce a grand dichotomy in the mold of Christopher Young.
The lighter elements, all dedicated to the lead heroine, are rather
tepid, and her perseverance and victories are expressed in only very
brief respites of tonal relief; the only full-ensemble scope of
magnificence in this work comes at the end of "Deliver Us From Evil."
Korzeniowski suggests rhythmic tonality denoting importance at the
outset of "God Ends Here" and "'Cause I Have Faith," but these passages
are fleeting. His theme for Irene is derivative of Mark Snow's later
music for "The X-Files," especially in "Handmaid of God." Her idea is
sparsely expressed in "Sister Irene" and "'Cause I Have Faith," but
little outward manipulation of the idea, or even any evolution of its
performances as the girl gains strength (or is possessed) is
convincingly conveyed in the music. The theme for the franchise demon,
Valak, is heard quickly in "God Ends Here" and features its best
performance of total evil at the start of "Branded by the Demon." The
throat singing is impressive but it's so over-the-top that it's
occasionally funny. At 2:49 in "Into the Abyss," the burst of the singer
sounds like a drunken man stumbling into a college sorority party,
looking around, and exclaiming, "Woooow!" Likewise, some of the solo
exhales mimic the sounds of homeless people under freeways exerting
themselves as they throw their turds at unsuspecting, passing commuters.
Altogether, the sum of
The Nun is totally functional but
struggles to find the sweet spot between outright horror creativity and
subtle, tonal deception. There are no gray areas here. Everything in the
score is too obvious, not to mention damn-near unlistenable on album
outside of 5-10 minutes of solemn character contemplation. Laxatives
have competition.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert includes a list of performers and notes from the director and composer about the score.
