Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,624
Written 7/2/10
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Buy it... if you seek a competent, occasionally impressive
compliment to George Fenton's popular music of similar expansive scope
for nature documentaries of the last ten years.
Avoid it... if you expect to hear either the exotic instrumental
creativity of Bruno Coulais' Winged Migration or a distinct
thematic flow through a score that is instead carried by three or four
immensely superior cues of individual character.
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| Coulais |
Oceans: (Bruno Coulais) More than a decade after
the British reinvigorated the genre of nature documentary, films and
series with spectacular photography and a pro-environment message
continue to illuminate the majesty of the planet and generate decent
profits. Disney created a subsidiary called Disneynature to distribute
the best of European nature documentaries in America, the first being
the BBC production of Earth in 2008 and following with the
slightly less fiscally successful but still impressive French film
Oceans for Earth Day in 2010. The latter was directed and
produced by Oscar-winner Jacques Perrin, who used $66 million dollars to
coordinate four years of filming in over 50 different locales around the
Earth to capture wildlife in the oceans and the detrimental affects of
human filth on their existence. The American version distributed by
Disney was sanitized for young audiences, removing 20 minutes of
material and utilizing the services of Pierce Brosnan as narrator.
Always a highlight of these documentaries has been their musical scores,
an element of the productions that often became, like the narrator, an
overarching central character of consistency. With George Fenton in the
lead, these projects throughout the 2000's have also allowed, like their
strictly IMAX predecessors, for grandiose symphonic scores of immense
scope and instrumental diversity. After all, such incredible visuals
deserve the richest of music, and fortunately, the long, flowing format
of most of these films' scenes also yields lengthy, concert-like
development of interesting motifs. It was no surprise that Perrin sought
the services of composer Bruno Coulais for Oceans; their
collaboration over the past ten years includes the bird documentary
Winged Migration and the Academy Award nominated music for The
Chorus in 2004. Coulais' career has been slowing gaining
international recognition since, especially with his work for the cult
favorite Coraline. In all of these assignments, Coulais has
demonstrated senses for both lyrical beauty and instrumental creativity,
the latter often extending to devious levels. No better a canvas for
this merging of melody and diversity exists than these grand
environmental documentaries, and the composer does not disappoint. It's
not likely that his music for Oceans will supplant Fenton's at
the forefront of awareness for soundtrack collectors, but it's a strong
entry with a few stunning, standout cues that make its album a more
enjoyable listening experience than the less accessible, sound
effects-riddled Winged Migration.
One of the inevitable aspects of these documentary
scores is a slightly schizophrenic character when appreciated outside of
context, for different locations and species require starkly disparate
tones in their music. This is once again the case with
Oceans,
though not to the obvious, genre-hopping extent that Fenton's scores
sometimes exhibit. The instrumentation for Coulais is largely
consistent, employing a dynamic orchestra and accenting it with eerie
synthetic tones for moments of mystery and a touch of vocals for three
distinctive cues. The latter varies from straight choral accompaniment
of the ensemble ("Les Massacres") to
Coraline-like distorted
children's solo ("Etranges Creatures"), old-fashioned lyrical singing in
English ("Ocean Will"), and a creepy, hidden children's vocal at the
very end of the album. Glassy synthetic effects define "Le Recif de
Jour" while awkward dissonant bass distortion a la Brad Fiedel produces
discomfort in "L'Arrivee des Araignees." Harp dominates the minimalistic
atmosphere of "Le Festin de l'Ocean." Violin rhythms similar to James
Newton Howard's
The Village grace "Le Temps des Decouvertes" and
"A l'Aventure." Massive brass in "La Cavalerie des Dauphins" over
frantic string ostinatos is a highlight. Thematically, Coulais fails to
really define the score with a single primary identity, through there
are three themes that are all effectively developed on their own in
multiple cues. The opening "La Fusee" introduces two of them, concluding
with a swelling string and harp idea that elegantly switches between
minor and major modes; this theme bookends the score by closing out
"Aquarium" in similar fashion. Before that theme in "La Fusee" is a
brief reference on xylophone to a theme that carries the entirety of
"Danses" and is reprised in an echo in "Disparus." The "Danses" cue is
one of the score's most memorable, its waltz dancing with a clever,
twisted allure that sounds like a cross between the famous
The Addams
Family theme and the Hedwig theme from John Williams' original
Harry Potter score. The final theme in
Oceans is its
dramatic powerhouse, combining harp with haunting mixed chorus and full
orchestra in a distinctly sea-faring tribute to the ominous aspect of
the ocean's power in "Les Massacres." This theme becomes the song "Ocean
Will" at the end of the soundtrack, and Coulais' application of varied
vocal tones in these two pieces is masterful. Together, these cues of
thematic development are fantastic highlights worth the attention of any
film score collector, but
Oceans is still, on the whole, a bit
nebulous in its narrative. Those memorable cues make the hour long album
(sans the American version's Demi Lovato/Joe Jonas song duet) a solid
recommendation, though due to the product's origins in France, expect to
pay import prices elsewhere.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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