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| Williams |
Presumed Innocent: (John Williams) Director Alan J. Pakula's
adaptation of Scott Turow's best-selling novel placed Harrison Ford in a role that
was becoming more familiar to him with each passing project. While many will recall
his action films before all others, serious movie-goers can remember Ford's phase
during which he adequately, if not brilliantly, portrayed a scared man. From
Frantic to
The Fugitive, Ford successfully expanded his career into
the realm of thrillers, with the 1990 film
Presumed Innocent representing
perhaps the pinnacle of such work. Pakula's storied, but sparse career included a
working relationship with composer Michael Small in earlier entries and finished its
span of thirty years with contributions by James Horner for the two pictures
immediately preceding his death in 1998. Surprisingly,
Presumed Innocent
would be the director's only film featuring the music of film score legend John
Williams. The maestro was about to embark on yet another decade of spectacular film
scores, finishing the previous year with multiple Academy Award-nominated works and
well on his way into another phase of massive adventure scores of considerable
quality. Steamy, adult thrillers weren't among the usual assignments for Williams,
whose scores at the time resided closer to more traditional drama and, even more
still, action genres. Thus,
Presumed Innocent distinguishes itself as a rare
stylistic departure for Williams, one that he would unfortunately not further
investigate later in the decade. Most Williams fans tend to be perpetually
overwhelmed by the composer's ability to present a score that stands well as both
its own formidable force in his films on one side and a spectacular album on the other. Differing
in its intent is
Presumed Innocent, however, and the score's underwhelming
aim has often led to its demise in the opinions of film music reviewers. To say that
Presumed Innocent is Williams' forgotten masterpiece would be slightly
misleading given that so many of his fans and collectors strangely consider the
score to be unimpressive, if not boring. Such critics and fans should take another
listen to
Presumed Innocent, because wrestling within its contents is one of
Williams' most skilled presentations of harmony versus disharmony, good versus evil,
and confusion versus resolution.
The film tears at the viewer with questions of morality and murder,
building to the gut-wrenching and ultimate destruction of a seemingly happy suburban
family. Thus, Williams maintains the score with a single piano at its heart,
representing the normal sound of a safe and normal family lifestyle with elegant,
though easily manipulated primary and secondary themes. Also of note is a solo horn
and timpani in the title theme performances and other cues, both forcefully
performing their roles apart from other brass or percussion, leading to the sense of
despair and fright on a personal level. Such instrumentation remains consistently
simple, yet sharp, with dissonant electronic effects providing a further edge of
fright to the mix. More importantly, however (and this is where you have to pay very
close attention to the score), is how Williams adapts the themes in the film to the
constant battle between passion and terror. Each thematic idea is inherently
positive and elegant in its basic construct, meandering on the piano in a dance of
sincerity during the few relaxed scenes of the film. As the story unfolds, however,
Williams' slowly strips away the harmony from the themes and inserts more troubling
off-key instrumentation and subtle mutation of those themes. Finally, as the major
confession is presented at the end of the film, Williams' score has completely
degenerated into a wash of tingling percussive sounds. The horror thus continues
without resolution through the every end of the work, exploding with a powerful,
electronically enhanced "End Credits" performance of the themes that punches the
audience in the face one last time, relentless driving home the surprise ending
after the plot's devastating conclusion. All of this is done with careful, troubled
elegance, and all you have to do to appreciate
Presumed Innocent is hear how
Williams changes the tempo on his piano themes in accordance with the level of
fright on the screen at any given moment. One of the more remarkable aspects of the
score is the difficulty with which other ensembles toil when attempting to re-record
the primary theme; these other groups almost always lose touch with the stark tone
of the original performance. Some of the backlash against this score could very well
be due to its ability, in its mid-section, to slow to near silent crawl. And yet, if
you're tired of hearing the same old Williams action sound, then
Presumed
Innocent is highly recommended as a stellar, gripping, lesser-known endeavor for
the master.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.8
(in 75 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.67
(in 349,923 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a short note about the score.
