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Review of Pumpkin (John Ottman)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you are an avid collector of John Ottman's obscure works and enjoyed the intimate quirkiness of his rejected score for Cruel Intentions.

Avoid it... if you prefer Ottman's meaty and gothic compositions for larger orchestral ensembles.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Pumpkin: (John Ottman) This little know film of 2002 is a character-driven drama about the societal and personal problems which arise when a typical sorority girl in college falls in love with a mentally retarded male student (and vice versa). The awkward situation in Pumpkin is played out on a campus stage that is saturated with peer criticism, and the two characters work to resolve their doubts about whether or not their affection towards one another is culturally acceptable. The film is light years away from the topic of Cruel Intentions, but the projects overlapped in their expression of what composer John Ottman calls "wrong love," for which he was required to score scenes with a romantic, yet a slightly twisted emotional element. The directors of Pumpkin requested a score that was "musically off," mostly due to the development of the problematic relationship, and this request proved to be something of a challenge for Ottman. It is hard to imagine what the composer's mental state must have been between the summer of 2001 and early 2002. He was finally in extremely high demand in the industry, scoring six projects during that span of time, and one of the lesser known of these assignments was the odd and obscure Pumpkin. Collectors of the composer's works were noting at the time that his works fit their films like a tight glove, likely because Ottman made a habit of always paying extra close attention to how the music could be mixed in the film (given his editing and directing experience). Add to the equation an extremely limited budget and a delivery of a score for Pumpkin with about three weeks to spare, and the project became one of midnight oil for Ottman. Utilizing the best that the constrained budget would allow, Ottman hired almost two dozen string and woodwind performers, along with a solo voice and pianist. Luckily, he had also just redesigned his studio to offer a better array of the synthetic elements that listeners of his works will recognize as a crucial part of his creative repertoire. The finished product resembles Ottman's rejected music for Cruel Intentions to an extent, which is to be expected, but without the blatantly seductive elements.

Despite whatever qualms he may have had about providing music that didn't immediately seem like an intuitive fit for the story, Ottman did succeed in producing a score for Pumpkin that is slightly disturbed in its use of bass that is not completely in tune with its fleeting thematic meanderings in the treble. A melancholy accent is provided by a lyrical solo vocal theme that highlights "Outcasts" and "Carolyn's Poem," which Ottman correctly states to be among the strongest cues of the score. Also of interest is the more intentionally obnoxious sorority theme of a neo-classical nature that opens and closes the score, an effort by Ottman to throw the snobby stereotype of that particular crowd in the listener's face. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Pumpkin is Ottman's continued ability to produce a full-sounding score, one with both personality and a larger sense of ambience but without a large group of performers. He may have chosen to avoid the sound of a traditional underscore in the film, taking into consideration the existence of the many softer sequences that play without much notice for portions of Pumpkin. One such cue is "Friends and Family," curious for its resemblance of themes from both Danny Elfman's Batman Returns and Sleepy Hollow. Harmonically, the floating, dreamy cues for the Carolyn character, as well as the sorority theme, offer ten minutes of superb Ottman creativity at work. Other cues are a tad sharp around the edges (an intended effect) and disturb the listening experience with the appropriate amount of apprehension necessary for the character interaction. The use of the piano, solo voice, and synthesized choral sounds (among other percussive needs provided by the synthetics) are all well integrated; the rhythm in "Destiny," along with the dynamic string performances, begin to mirror Cruel Intentions considerably (and with an equally strong result). The album was another relatively rare offering of Ottman's work by the Citadel label, and it is generally a satisfying presentation with the exception of some high range distortion to be heard in the more voluminous "To Class." Overall, Pumpkin is an interesting, though not uniquely outstanding work for Ottman, and the audience for the score will likely be restrained to the collectors of his works.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 46:38

• 1. Lofty Goals* (3:08) • 2. Pumpkin (2:01) • 3. Outcasts (2:20) • 4. Separation (4:16) • 5. First Day* (3:51) • 6. I'm in Love (2:05) • 7. Bad World* (1:25) • 8. A First Step (2:08)

• 9. To Class* (1:16) • 10. Torn Souls* (4:24) • 11. I'm Not Retarded (2:52) • 12. Goodbye, Cruel World (2:27) • 13. Friends and Family (4:42) • 14. Destiny (3:48) • 15. Carolyn's Poem* (2:32) • 16. Lofty Goals Reprise (2:16)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a note from John Ottman about the score and film.

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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Pumpkin are Copyright © 2002, Citadel Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/16/03 and last updated 2/23/09.