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"O": (Jeff Danna) An ill-fated endeavor, Tim Blake Nelson's
directorial experiment with this pop cultural adaptation of William Shakespeare's
"Othello" is better known for its relationship with a more gut-wrenching real-life
event rather than its own tragic storyline. Nelson (who most people will recognize
as the actor who played the idiotic Delmar character in
O Brother, Where Art
Thou?) recreated the melodramatic Shakespearian play in a modern, private high
school environment, with the black title character existing as a basketball star
who falls in love with the "whitest" girl in the school (the pseudo Desdemona)
and draws the jealousy of the basketball coach's son (the pseudo Iago). That alone
leads the story down a predictable path of self-destruction and, for those who are
ignorant of the Shakespeare story, a disastrously disappointing ending. The problem
with the picture was that the Othello character executes his vengeance by
committing an act of mass school violence devised by the Iago equivalent. The
production of
"O" finished in 1998, and because the disturbing Columbine
High School massacre in Colorado was fresh in everyone's minds at the time, the
studio held the film on the shelves for several years to compensate for their bad
timing. The musical approach for the project was one that Nelson wanted to use as a
bridging of the wide gap between the classical era and contemporary hip hop and
rap. In the film, the latter representations ended up with most of the attention
(leading to additional questions about black culture music inspiring violence). For
the orchestral side, Nelson chose composer Jeff Danna, brother of the veteran
Mychael Danna, because, as he states, he "simply liked him" (one of the better
explanations of a hiring to come from the industry in a while). Jeff Danna had
worked mostly on obscure television scores up to that point, including his fair
share of low budget kung fu endeavors, and
"O" stood as his best known work
at the time of its release. While without the impressive resume of his brother,
Jeff already possessed the same classically orchestral inclinations (which would
lead to the stunning, ethnically rich score for
The Gospel of John in 2003),
and it is this style which Nelson wished to hear in both the dramatic and subdued
moments of his film.
Orchestral Shakespearian music of the 1990's had been associated
most frequently with the lyrical symphonic efforts of Patrick Doyle, though the
most recent adaptation of
Othello had been the film by the same name a few
years before
"O", for which Charlie Mole had provided an appropriately cold,
but powerful score. For the modern rendition of
"O", Nelson specifically
wanted a lush, orchestral sound with an infusion of classic tone, and to
accommodate this request, Danna utilized a full ensemble aided by instruments such
as the hurdy-gurdy, the vielle, and the viola da gamba to provide the appropriate
atmosphere. This combination ultimately still yields a string dominated score that
is mostly restrained to minimalistic atmosphere, with little to inspire beyond that
base foundation of slight instrumental diversity. The tone is ethereal in parts but
languishing in others, with a consistent, if not lifeless and dull underscore that
meanders without direction in between the film's use of other genres of music. It
makes for easy listening because of its steady volume, but it hardly portrays the
lust, the jealousy, the betrayal, and the other lofty emotions that saturate the
story and its characters. There is no intensity in Danna's work for
"O", and
thematic development is restrained to minimum levels of connection. Any adaptation
of this tale begs for a musical personality for each character, and instead, Danna
has offered a basic mood that accompanies only the overarching environment of the
film's dramatic sensibilities. As such, it is effective in its purpose, but could
have been so much more. The solo instruments, without notable performances of theme
that could break the bounds of the mundane tone, get lost in the equation and are
difficult to recall by the end of the score. On the mostly score-only album (as
opposed to the song compilation that was also released for this film), this lack of
direction becomes very obvious, though if you take out the expectations that most
will have for this Shakespearean story, the score is a marginally pleasant
listening experience. The album begins with the most striking music of all: the
"Ave Maria" opera piece that sets a different tone than Danna would provide in his
contribution. Overall,
"O" is disappointing if you stop to consider all of
the overt passion and expression of emotions that takes place in any adaptation of
"Othello." Otherwise, it's a mellow and consistently drab orchestral mood-setter.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert includes a short note from the director about the
score and film.
