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Written 2/16/15
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Buy it... if you want to hear Danny Elfman cleverly eviscerate a
neurotic character on screen with a simultaneously playful and sinister
treatment of underplayed but surprisingly engaging rhythmic devices.
Avoid it... if you easily tire of Elfman's methods when he clearly
pulls elements from his past scores into a new environment, in this case
his prior incarnations combining to skewer a controversial political
figure.
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| Elfman |
The Unknown Known: (Danny Elfman) There is little
debate in retrospect about the disastrous nature of the decision by the
United States to invade Iraq in 2003, and much of the deception of the
American people at the time was the work of the U.S. Secretary of
Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. The man had a tendency to twist logic in
mind-bogglingly incomprehensible ways when speaking to the press about
his justifications, and one such event occurred during a U.S. Department
of Defense news briefing in February of 2002. When confronted about his
assertions that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that were
destined for terrorists (a lie perpetuated by the American government to
explain the war), Rumsfeld gave a rambling response detailing the
intelligence community's "known knowns," "known unknowns," and "unknown
unknowns." Ironically, as psychologists have illuminated since, the last
combination that Rumsfeld forgot to mention, the "unknown knowns," is
the one that applies to a person who refuses to recognize what he
already knows, thus making it the most applicable of the four to the
conniving Rumsfeld. Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has been
plundering political topics for years, typically constructing his films
out of interviews with the actual main players. His treatment of
Rumsfeld in 2014's The Unknown Known (the film premiered in
limited fashion in 2013) cleverly uses Rumsfeld's own words, supplied to
Morris willingly for some odd reason (the outcome of the movie's slant
should have been a known known for Rumsfeld), to expose his dodgy lies
and impactful blunders. The film didn't reclaim the praise he received
for The Fog of War in 2003, but it was received well by critics.
While Morris had utilized the services of composer Philip Glass for his
earlier projects, he switched to Danny Elfman for 2008's Standard
Operating Procedure and the two worked well together. It's no secret
that Elfman is an active voice for liberal causes in America, so it was
also no surprise that he took the opportunity to skewer Rumsfeld with a
devious score for The Unknown Known. Elfman had channeled Glass'
style of rhythmic minimalism in Standard Operating Procedure, and
that approach continues in The Unknown Known. But the latter
score is easily more clever in how it strikes to the false sense of
uppity self-righteousness that defines the target of the film. There's a
simultaneously playful and sinister personality to this score, and it's
that finely tuned balance that makes it a remarkable success, not to
mention far more listenable on album than its often grating
predecessor.
The formula for Elfman in
The Unknown Known is
not surprising. A moderately sized orchestra is led by piano and a range
of vocals (from cheery puffs to ominous, deep mixed voices), joined by
electric bass, marimba, organ, and other Elfman standards for smaller
projects. Strings carry the load in the German orchestral ensemble, but
occasional woodwind solos and brass force supply highlights. The minor
third churning of strings, dancing piano, as well the very dry mix, will
recall Patrick Doyle's outstanding
La Ligne Droite. The somewhat
sparse renderings, interestingly, will remind Elfman enthusiasts of the
solemn moments in
Beetlejuice ("Ford Assassination"). Expect a
dynamic range of emotions in the work, two highlights being "Two Sides"
at the bright "la la" vocal end of innocence (significant shades of
Alice in Wonderland here) and "Detainees" at the morbidly
oppressive organ end of evil (think
Darkman in this case). Throw
in some sickeningly retro suburban goodness from electronics in "Joyce"
and you have almost a complete picture. To finish things off are
Elfman's two themes, which feature a solo piano over scheming string
rhythms. The main idea slithers about in the minor key before rising
with false nobility to a major chord that perfectly represents the
mechanizations of a corrupt government agency. Aided by ominous bassoon
accompaniment, this idea is introduced in "Theme From Unknown" but is
given arguably its most haunting treatment with solo boy's voice in
"Shakespeare." The piano takes the theme in "What You Know" and "Limits"
before the aforementioned
Dark Shadows-like "Detainees." The
"Main Titles" track at the end offers a vigorous summary of the theme,
joined this time by brass. A secondary melody for Rumsfeld himself is
sickeningly cheery, a fairy-tale identity of sorts in "Rummy's Theme"
but its progressions proving themselves elusive and, later in that cue,
embroiled in torment. That idea returns in "Himself," the ever-defining
"Snowflakes," on melodramatic strings in "Geneva," in fragments in "Abu
Ghraib," and in one last burst in "Better to Not Go." There are ambient
sequences that do drag down the listening experience, the humorously
named "Marimba Foghorn" and signal-laced "Drones" too long to really
appreciate. But the whole of
The Unknown Known is quite
entertaining and will bring a smirk to the face of anyone who
appreciates Elfman's brand of political humor. His collectors could
assemble over 10 minutes of five-star material from this unlikely source
of vintage Elfman styles. Few scores of this era have better sliced
through the disturbing neurosis of a single personality on screen with
such delicate blades.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.12
(in 95 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 154,830 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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