was a force to
be reckoned with from both the arthouse and technical perspectives.
Featuring the story of real life Danish baroness Karen Blixen, the film
conveys a sweeping but ultimately sorrowful personal tale while
glorifying the setting of Kenya at the time of the first World War. Its
epic visuals were well mated to the intimate character interactions and
compelling commentary on lifestyles of the era, especially involving the
disillusionment that many Europeans felt about the "civilized" culture
of the continent when searching out new lives in Africa. When the
baroness and her husband (through convenient arrangement) purchase and
operate a farm in Kenya, she finds herself perpetually alone. When an
English adventurer (a pilot and hunter) enters her life, so begins the
charm between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. While the ultimate fate
of the characters is understandably heavy with sadness, the broad
journey of their lives is, along with the atmosphere of Africa, the
overwhelming attraction of
. Between this film and
was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, winning
seven of them across the spectrum of categories (from sound to overall
picture). Among the most memorable aspects of the film that led to a
predictable Oscar (and Golden Globe) was the score by John Barry, who
was experiencing the height of the romantic renaissance in his career at
the time. The grandiose melodies on strings that were pervasive in the
composer's career then carried him as a mainstream favorite from
, the latter
gaining him his final Academy Award. Although
is just as
reflective of Barry's stereotypical romantic flavor, albeit in a shorter
and less burdensome dosage. The underlying structures and instrumental
techniques in these works are all pretty much the same (from the almost
obnoxious repetition of phrases to the use strings to carry a primary
melody while conservative brass tones offer buffer and occasional
counterpoint). The use of descending cello and bass string figures will
connect this score to
more often for Barry
collectors. Ultimately, the closest practice run for
, which features many of the
same plot elements that obviously inspired Barry in consistent
ways.
There are two primary and two secondary themes in
Out of Africa (not including the use of a Mozart piece as
another), though most casual listeners will only recall the grand title
theme accompanying the massive vistas of Kenya. It is this extremely
tonal idea that slowly unfolds in flowing string tones and concludes its
statements with bold French horn counterpoint. It is as lovely as it is
sleep-inducing, providing the landscape with the kind of romantic appeal
that the story's protagonist obviously recalls upon writing about her
years in Africa. It also glamorizes the scenery in ways that true
Hollywood epics love to do. This theme opens and closes the album
presentations for
Out of Africa with convincing authority. The
secondary theme of importance is one of personal plight for the
baroness. A tender woodwind theme for Karen is integrated more
thoroughly into the score, occupying three or four cues in full. Its
flute performances with soft string backing are reminiscent of Barry's
instrumental song adaptations of the song melody in the nearly
concurrent
A View to a Kill. The primary theme for Redford's
adventurer is that which actually opens the film; Mozart's 1791 adagio
"Clarinet Concerto in A Major" accompanies the character throughout the
film in Karen's recollections. As in
Somewhere in Time, the
reliance upon a classical piece for a major story concept instead of
Barry's score is odd, especially when considering the fact that Barry's
material is so similar in tone and could likely have sufficed for the
occasion. Barry does actually provide Redford's character with a
beautiful theme, though it is unfortunately limited to just one cue.
Heard on piano in "Have You Got a Story For Me?," this melancholy
minor-key theme uses elegant progressions that would sound familiar to
enthusiasts of James Horner's
Casper ten years later. For
listeners tired of hearing the primary themes from
Out of Africa
throughout the decades, this one cue and its unique theme could very
well serve as the highlight of the album. A second musical identity
associated with the two main characters is their own distinct adventure
theme, hinted at during their initial on screen meeting and bursting
with symphonic force in "Safari." In this cue, the horns are allowed to
carry the theme with bold resolve, producing another hidden highlight of
the overall work. Film score collectors will find interesting parallels
in structure between this melody and the seldom referenced love theme in
David Arnold's
The World is Not Enough (especially in that
score's unreleased "Snow Business" cue).
Altogether, these themes usually run back to back in
Barry's
Out of Africa, ensuring its position as a easy, harmonic
listening experience from start to end. Their common style of rendering
helps to soften their mingling, though the secondary themes in the score
are disappointingly short-changed in terms of development. The only
significant break in the listening experience is the dissonant and
percussive "Karen's Journey" material (which was closer to the
traditional music of the region that Pollack had to be talked out of
using for the entire score by Barry). The composer's large-scale
recordings were typically beyond their era when he was at his composing
prime, but
Out of Africa is sadly a major exception. Compared to
his similar romance scores of the 80's, this one sounds badly muted on
its album releases. MCA Records has released the identical presentation
in several issues over the years, most with very similar cover art (even
in international pressings), and, despite an overpriced Gold Edition
follow-up, all of them are unsatisfactory in sound. Some Barry
enthusiasts may also object to the insertion of the Mozart piece and
some other source and traditional music in the middle of the score's
presentation. Both of these problems were solved when Varèse
Sarabande commissioned Joel McNeely to conduct the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra for an expanded selection of Barry's music for album
release in 1997. While the full Mozart piece was recorded, the other
incidental music was removed in favor of additional material written by
Barry for the film (but not always edited into the final cut due to
Pollack's late rearrangements). The sound quality here is outstanding,
the order of cues satisfactory, and the interpretation of Barry's style
quite competent. Barry's romantic music, because of its inherent
simplicity in constructs, is typically a safe bet when it comes to such
re-recordings, and more than perhaps any other composer, his works are
often improved upon in subsequent, digitally recorded performances.
Because of the vast improvement in dynamic soundscape for such an epic
score, this re-recording of
Out of Africa is more necessary for
your collection than Varèse Sarabande and the RSNO's later (and
less available) recording of
Somewhere in Time. For purists,
nothing but the original score's recording may suffice; otherwise, don't
hesitate to seek out the 1997 re-recording. Convention would dictate
that
Out of Africa should receive a five-star rating, but due to
its brevity, questionable production aspects, and failure to really
adapt some of the score's best sub-themes into fuller roles, it stands a
full step behind
Dances With Wolves and thus earns a very solid
four stars.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For John Barry reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.85
(in 27 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.56
(in 26,879 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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