: (James Horner) Lost in all the
commotion about this film's award-winning showing at the Sundance Film
Festival is the fact that it was at first produced for strictly
religious purposes. A creation of the Catholic non-profit group Sacred
Heart League, the initially-titled
, a
sorrowful but galvanizing portrayal of faith and sacrifice, was
originally (and still is) intended for use in Christian educational
settings. Upon the film's strong acclaim at Sundance, it was purchased
on the spot by Castle Rock Entertainment for a stunning $10 million, the
most money ever paid for an independent film. Mainstream critics and
audiences weren't quite as thrilled by the story's tragic depiction of
redemption, with a final act that preaches to unbelievable twists and
turns, and Castle Rock ended up breaking about even on the venture. In
, a young woman released from prison (and in
there for manslaughter) is the salvation of a small New England town
where she both helps save the only local diner and, through her
sacrifice, many of the people she encounters. It's a mutation on the
reliable story of Jesus Christ, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to
predict what happens to the girl in the end (a hint: death!). In between
the time of the film's submission to Sundance and its eventual winning
of its most coveted award, the original producers of the film,
anticipating its potential, asked veteran composer James Horner to
re-score the picture. The normally expensive Horner, impressed by the
values depicted in the story, agreed to provide a small-scale score for
, written and recorded late in 1995 (a fact
that only adds to the plentiful evidence that 1995 was easily the
composer's best year of writing). His music was one of the reasons why
the film achieved its success at Sundance, earning widespread praise
that would eventually spread to nearly every corner of the film music
world. The album release, predictably picked up by Sony Classical during
the height of the film's hoopla, was an extremely refreshing piece of
redemption for Horner's career, for it was a precursor to
in silencing the many listeners who accused the composer of
failing to write a distinctly new idea in years. In short,
In subsequent years, Horner has continued to explore
most of the stylistic ideas of
The Spitfire Grill with less
success, but it's important not to let the pieces of this score that
show up in everything from
Titanic to
The New World
diminish its immensely satisfying appeal in late 1996. Not often had
Horner attempted to merge his lightest touch of drama with parochial
rhythms and instrumentation, with perhaps
Field of Dreams his
only similar work in a most basic sense. The difference between
The
Spitfire Grill and the composer's other scores from the decades
before and after, is the combination of authenticity and sincerity that
saturates the work. It could be argued that the rural settings of New
England really don't have a sound that defines the region's character
and history, but Horner's merging of elements in
The Spitfire
Grill succeeds in providing one that is the equivalent for Maine, in
many ways, of what Thomas Newman wrote for the Deep South in
Fried
Green Tomatoes (a coincidentally similar film in story, too).
Although some might say that this score represents small town America in
a more general, pastoral way, it really flourishes as a Northeastern
identifier. Unlike many of Horner's following dramas of a larger scope,
The Spitfire Grill has a convincing heart. He makes the music
tick not with the overwrought melodrama that he often pulled off the
shelves for larger studio productions, but rather with a very compelling
series of fresh melodies and an ensemble that surprised many Horner
collectors at the time. With that description in mind, though, it's
important to note that every moment of
The Spitfire Grill is
easily recognizable as a Horner work. The cliches and most tiring
self-references, though, are thankfully absent. The ensemble,
orchestrated by Horner himself, is mostly responsible for this new
sound; a moderately-sized orchestra is accented by fiddle, viola,
acoustic guitar, flute, and piano solos, accompanied in their most
lively performances by pop elements consisting of electronic bass,
modern percussion, and occasional ticking sound effects. The scenery of
the forest is provided with a meandering, slightly new age sound of airy
synthetic atmosphere, flighty woodwinds, and metallic percussion that
could possibly be credited as the origination point of the very similar
tones for nature in
A New World.
One of the most remarkable aspects of
The Spitfire
Grill is how well Horner balances all of his solo instruments. You
can't emphasize any one of the aforementioned performers because the
composer alternates constantly between their usage. The viola and fiddle
are likely the flashiest of the group, but the piano and guitar are
attractive in their workmanlike roles. Horner offers a wide range of
themes for
The Spitfire Grill, and while themes for the love
story, a mysterious man in the forest, and the forest itself are all
significant in their development throughout the score, the soul of the
film exists in its seldom-used, but gorgeous title theme. You have to be
patient to hear this theme on album, but its representation of vivacity
in the town of Gilead explodes in "Reading the Letters" and "A New Life
for Gilead." Also explored to great lengths in "...Care of the Spitfire
Grill," this title theme is among the composer's loveliest, passed
between solo instruments and each section of the orchestra with constant
beauty. The pizzazz of the tempo and percussion of the first two
performances are the highlight of
The Spitfire Grill, and Horner
has never written music like this since. The remaining themes together
form a strong bed of ambient harmony during the rest of the score, with
only the penultimate track really treading into darker musical
territory. In the middle section of "A Desperate Decision," mainstream
Horner fans will hear a cross between the panic cues of
Apollo 13
and
A Perfect Storm (including an interesting progression unique
to this cue). The lofty, spiritual wonders of the forest produce a
relaxing tone in the middle portion of the album. As a listening
experience,
The Spitfire Grill is truly delightful and
uninterrupted 50 minutes of comfortable and rewarding light drama.
Almost universally popular in film music reviewing circles, the score's
lack of flash and pomp provides a satisfying alternative for those who
have become weary of Horner's tendency to overstate his intentions. It
was the right score at the right time for the composer, and without
fail, its subtle magic endures despite the composer's continued success
in much larger studio projects thereafter. From
Legends of the
Fall in 1994 to
The Mask of Zorro in 1998, the best five
years of Horner's career are anchored by this hidden gem in middle.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For James Horner reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.15
(in 108 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 203,345 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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