: (Robert Rodriguez/Graeme Revell/John
Debney) For director and composer Robert Rodriguez,
was
a project stewing in his dreams for quite a while. His loyalty to the
seven novels of comics by Frank Miller is creepy, if not brilliant, with
so much detail retained from the comics that Miller was given
co-directing credit while sitting in on shooting sessions with
Rodriguez. To call
an adaptation would not do it
justice; the digital green-screen production goes so far as to imitate
the duo-tone nature of the comics as well as exact storyboard direction.
The content of the story really doesn't matter much compared to the
style with which it's presented, featuring sustained violence, nudity,
and everything pulpy and seedy that elevates the concept of film noir to
new levels of weirdness. Rodriguez takes three primary storylines from
the comics and treats them as mini-dramas within the film, the
timelessness of the city bringing the lines together under a common
umbrella of wet streets, cars of yesteryear, and cigarette smoke. Having
received assistance in adapting his musical ideas for his franchise of
films, Rodriguez was increasingly taking advantage of
modern technologies that allow even the minimally trained musical talent
to compose for films. His work becoming increasingly solo in the early
2000's,
proved to be a significant
step forward for Rodriguez, if even for not the film then definitely for
his strikingly cool score. He is one of these "new age" directors who
not only thinks about the score in his head while he works a screenplay,
but actually composes ideas on guitar for the screenplay well in advance
of filming. No matter the quality of the final music, you have to admire
the emphasis with which the director concentrates on the scores, for
such attention can only lead to a more intriguing future for film
music.
Originally intending to write the entire score for
Sin
City by himself, Rodriguez eventually conceded that time was running
short. He therefore turned to two composers with whom he had worked in
the past, Graeme Revell and especially John Debney, to finish the task.
Providing the two established composers with his title theme and various
instructions on instrumentation and the digital editing of certain
elements in the performance, Rodriguez made the unconventional choice of
unleashing Revell and Debney on unique storylines in the film. Retaining
the task of scoring the Bruce Willis/Yellow Bastard line of the
Sin
City story was Rodriguez, who had become fixated on it in his
composing. Revell took the Mickey Rourke line and Debney took perhaps
the most promising Clive Owen/Benicio Del Toro line involving the police
and hookers of the city. Both assisting composers had explicit
instructions from Rodriguez about their available instrumentation and
thematic use. Although Revell and Debney never actually collaborated to
any direct extent in the scoring, the coordination of the project turned
out to be a surprising success. Both Revell and Debney followed these
instructions so well that despite the film's obvious split focus on the
three lines, the music remains consistently rooted in one style from
start to finish. There are obvious differences in the three composers'
underlying styles that film music collectors will recognize immediately,
however. Rodriguez's music is less dense, perhaps underdeveloped with a
lack of counterpoint and other complexities that are commonly associated
with large-scale film music. But, as one would expect from Rodriguez
after
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the undeniable coolness factor
is certainly rooted in his ideas. The "Sin City" theme, which Rodriguez
refers to as "Descent," is a simple progression of downward spiraling
chords meant to mimic a fall into the darkness of the city's nightmarish
atmosphere.
Revell and Debney both utilize Rodriguez's main theme
in
Sin City with effective results. Rodriguez also encouraged the
entire range of saxophones, from alto to bass, to accentuate the history
of film noir jazz in the soundscape, but he intentionally distorted the
sax performances digitally to give them an extra dose of gritty reality.
Thus, while the sax performances do elevate the romantic side of the
story, their throaty blaring also illuminates the harsh and grotesque
sides of the city. A thumping bass rhythm is utilized by Rodriguez in
his opening and closing themes, with the end credits exhibiting the only
truly band-like performance of pop culture influence. Don't expect the
simple, broad strokes of high drama that Rodriguez displayed in
Once
Upon a Time in Mexico, however; the electric guitar and orchestral
ensemble only reach one of Rodriguez's excruciatingly harmonious chords
of finality in the last bars of the "End Titles." The Revell line was
intended by Rodriguez to be the only one excluding an orchestral
ensemble. With a trombone, female voice, electronic keyboarding array,
and, of course, the sax, Revell's portion of the score dwells in the
depths of a dirty, ambient soundscape and therefore suits his synthetic
mannerisms well. Interestingly, Revell's incorporation of the wide
variety of throaty sax tones, along with his collection of usual sound
effect samplings that he draws out over great lengths, seem to best
represent the darkness of
Sin City of any of the angles in the
score. His lonely keyboarding and distant female vocals wander slowly in
the distance, joined by an occasionally wailing sax, and by "Her Name
is Goldie," Revell's atmospheric work is the triumph of the film's
solitary moments of tragedy. Debney, on the other hand, was given a
partial orchestral ensemble and extended his duties to conduct both his
and Rodriguez's work. While the orchestra has a minimal effect on
Rodriguez's contributions, Debney tackles his third of the project with
an obvious attempt to rekindle the classic sound of melodramatic
noir.
From wild jazz rhythms established by ambitious bass
and synthesized drums to full, melodic outbursts from the ensemble,
Debney's work for
Sin City is by far the most engaging in the
score. Rodriguez's gritty sax theme continues here, though Debney uses
the brass and string-only orchestra for dramatic depth that ranges from
a solo trumpet meandering over the top of the ensemble to the full
group's interpretation of the title theme. If there is one cue outside
of the opening and closing titles that will capture your attention, it
is "The Big Fat Kill," in which Debney builds to his own finale with a
fully-rendered, harmonically satisfying but remarkably tortured
performance of the title theme. After hearing the seedy sax mixed with
such emotional grip in this cue, it would theoretically be interesting
to hear what Debney could have done with this theme over the entirety of
the film. Then again, while pleasing music fans, such a move would
defeat the purpose of having the three different composers for the three
storylines and, in the end, Rodriguez's idea for the score works. As
opposed to some projects nowadays that are torn apart by the presence of
several different composers,
Sin City is viable because of the
careful direction of the music as guided by Rodriguez himself. Revell
and Debney both succeed in "getting the picture" and providing the exact
kind of sound that not only matches Rodriguez's ideas, but each other's
as well. As for the quality of the sum, the
Sin City score
demands a very specific mood for tragedy and brooding contemplation. It
walks that fine line between hopeless depression and an attitude of
revenge, and its intentional distortion and dwelling in the bass realms
may turn off listeners seeking more dramatically fluid and satisfyingly
heroic music. The album features one hard rock song and Rodriguez's own
favorite orchestral piece, "Sensemaya," which, despite the director's
fondness for it, detracts from the flow of the album because of its
stark differences in style to the less traditionally symphonic original
material. Once again, though,
Sin City is an unusually competent
score with an excellent rendering. No single element will blow you away
(outside of that final Debney cue), but its whole is surprisingly
organic, dirty, and pulpy.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Score as Coordinated for the Film: ****
- Score as Heard on the Album: ***
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For Graeme Revell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.74
(in 19 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.77
(in 15,893 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
