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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Rebecca (Clint Mansell)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you need a moment to relax and appreciate Clint
Mansell's understated, only slightly suspenseful light romance music in
a blend of symphonic and contemporary styles.
Avoid it... if you expect anything about that approach from Mansell to address the period, scope, or mystery of this tale, the score a total miss even when not compared to Franz Waxman.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Rebecca: (Clint Mansell) It had been a long time
since a feature film had tackled an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's
famed 1938 gothic romance thriller, most of the potential competition
likely scared off by Alfred Hitchcock's award-winning 1940 telling. Few
remember, however, that the actual story of "Rebecca" was impossible to
show in 1940 because of censorship rules about depicting murders on
screen without repercussion, which led the Hitchcock version to a more
dubious narrative end. The 2020 adaptation of the tale by Ben Wheatley
returns to the novel's plotline while retaining its original setting in
place and time. The story tells of a random young woman who becomes the
love interest and later wife of a wealthy Englishman who installs her at
his Manderley estate, much to the dismay of the staff of the manor that
remains partial to Rebecca, the former lady of the house. The new wife
has to deal with this animosity while unravelling mysteries involving
Rebecca's death, leading to some grim discoveries and the eventual
destruction of the estate. While Rebecca is technically a
thriller, it actually isn't that suspenseful, even with the new film
aiming to bolster the supernatural element of Rebecca's haunting of
Manderley. Audiences gave the movie a chance in a hybrid
theatre/streaming release, but responses were muted at best. Part of the
problem was, obviously, inevitable comparisons to the Hitchcock classic,
especially with no modernization of the concept attempted. A rather
indifferent demeanor gave Rebecca no reason to excite anyone, the
rendition neither really scary or romantic, and this problem is
perfectly embodied by Clint Mansell's music. The English musician had
made a name for himself in Hollywood during the previous decade for his
experimental scores that built upon his sound design tendencies, and he
has occasionally excelled beyond these works when he ventured into broad
action or fantasy. One would expect that Mansell might have been tempted
to completely ignore the momentous Franz Waxman score for the 1940 film,
but the opposite happened. He watched that movie with just the isolated
score playing, and he marveled at the complexity of the composition. He
and Wheatley decided not to attempt such a broad and extroverted tone of
swirling orchestral romance. (Waxman's score is impressively adept at
emulating the swells of water.) After all, in their estimation, Waxman's
score was a product of its time, and modern audiences don't want to hear
that. Thus, they instead get something far less effective.
Mansell approached Rebecca by recording a score he considered more accessible to modern audiences, which means it's a combination of a moderate orchestra, contemporary soloists, and slight sound design and synthetic backing throughout. Unfortunately, the reason Waxman's score worked was because the music, in the story's absence of outright thrills, needed to overplay the emotions of the story. By downplaying his own presence in the 2020 movie, Mansell doesn't compensate for that same issue and thus fails at elevating the passion or mystery needed for Rebecca. The whole score is awash with mostly pleasant but inconsequential passages of meandering ideas that never congeal structurally or in style. A somewhat wet mix on some soloists creates an occasionally mystical ambience, glass harmonica and electric cello added for the same effect. Contributions from low woodwinds and electric bass are frequent, the former a really nice touch. Mansell's themes exist but are poorly enunciated, often tied together by fragments of trios of notes. A descending minor third figure seems to represent Rebecca and Manderley while a longer-lined alternative growing out of that is a cold representation of the love theme between the new couple. Piano and acoustic guitar explore the latter in "Tell Me That You Love Me Now." The breathy descending figures in "Rebecca, Always Rebecca" are followed by a rare and large string finale for Mansell, a technique that also follows some slight rhythmic exuberance opening "The Peace of Manderley" but not reaching anywhere near Waxman depth. Without the core themes carrying any intellectual or emotional weight, the score becomes a series of vaguely interesting moments. Pleasant acoustic guitar ambience awaits in "Une Douzaine d'Huîtres" and "A Bond in Common." Light rock shines through in "Rebecca's Room," slight sultry percussion attracts in "I Could Fight the Living But I Could Not Fight the Dead," oppressive, dissonant suspense shades emerge in "The Shadow Between Us" and "Je Reviens," and a terrible electric cello closes out "We Can Never Go Back Again." The best listening experience on album comes from a strummed electric guitar's rendition of the Rebecca motif with strings and light percussion in "The Wings of Mercury." Overall, Mansell's Rebecca lacks a direction and a soul, ineffective to such a degree that the final fire and confrontation cue is completely inept in the film and may as well be absent. Nobody expected Waxman quality here, and the contemporary musical elements are not the problem, but this tale needed far more than easy-going but indecisive and mundane ambience to bolster the story's inherent intrigue.
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 62:17
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for this album.
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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 Rebecca are Copyright © 2020, Lakeshore Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 2/22/21 (and not updated significantly since). |
