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Review of V for Vendetta (Dario Marianelli)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you enjoy dense, intelligent rhythms for symphonic mayhem that often include an overactive percussion section.

Avoid it... if you were lured by Dario Marianelli's Oscar-nominated Pride & Prejudice and are unprepared for his more ambitious and brutal orchestral capabilities.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

V for Vendetta: (Dario Marianelli) In a post-9/11 world of extremism, intelligent debates about the boundaries between terrorists and freedom fighters are perhaps more relevant than ever. Writer Alan Moore first published the story of V for Vendetta in his graphic novels of 1982, and is also well known for his movie-inspiring stories for From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. While his notions of time-altered, gothic depictions of the United Kingdom have intrigued audiences with varying levels of success, Moore has disowned all three films of his work due to unhappiness over the structures of the adaptation deals. The adaptation for V for Vendetta comes from the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, best known for their Matrix work, and the film is directed by newcomer James McTeigue. Posing an alternate reality that could have occurred if Nazi Germany had conquered Britain in World War II and still held the country in totalitarian control in 2020 (while America had lost most of its population to civil war and plague), V for Vendetta has the same graphic novel characteristics as Sin City last year. Perpetually mysterious, a man who wears a mask of Guy Fawkes (the "freedom fighter" who attempted to blow up the British Parliament in 1605 and inspired bonfire celebrations every November 5th since) is the Phantom of the Opera-like villain who strikes revenge with ease, throwing the big brother state into disarray through his own terrorist actions. Brutally dark in its connotations (and destruction of great architecture), V for Vendetta raises dangerous questions about today's societies of the world, and, for the most part, reactions from critics and movie-goers have been cautiously positive.

For Italian composer Dario Marianelli, V for Vendetta is yet another entry in his first year of scoring mainstream international films of significant attention. After his highly acclaimed, relentlessly dense score for The Brothers Grimm in early 2005, Marianelli wrote, among several other projects, a classically-inspired score for Pride & Prejudice that garnered him his first Academy Award nomination. Without missing a beat, V for Vendetta extends the orchestral and choral mastery heard in The Brothers Grimm with solid results. The most interesting aspect of The Brothers Grimm a year prior was Marianelli's ability to write music phenomenally active and intelligently layered without allowing it to become a chaotic mess. Like Debbie Wiseman's Arsène Lupin, Marianelli's work fascinated with dense, melodic structures that are refreshing to hear after years of repetitive and often underdeveloped American action music. Every bit as symphonically interesting, V for Vendetta presents a difficult, but rewarding array of brutal writing that impresses once again with its sheer weight. Somewhat missing from V for Vendetta, however, are Marianelli's acute romantic sensibilities, with even the thematic representation for the Evey character (a common victim played by Natalie Portman) languishing in restrained performances of a tonal, but troubled rising progression of underplayed tragedy. The only exception is the lengthy "Valerie" cue, in which a melancholy solo piano follows one of Marianelli's softer rhythmic progressions for strings and choir (and oddly similar in style to Batman Begins).

The battle between government and rebel is done justice by Marianelli's militaristic cues, utilizing all of the percussive elements of The Brothers Grimm into outstanding rhythmic blasts of sound usually punctuated by seemingly overdubbed brass (or simply an expanded brass section size or mix). Even the opening of the score, with snare and timpani rips, features a crispness in sound quality that sets an ominous minor-key bass for the faintly heroic major-key brass that whirls in the shadows of Britain's glorious past. Choral mixes in V for Vendetta present the adult voices in appropriate crescendos, though the film doesn't afford Marianelli the ability to haul off with magnificent choral majesty as he has done before. Electronics play a larger role in this score as well, with some of the synthesized rhythms from his previous work accentuated as the rolling action of the film frantically ticks with an appropriate musical reference to explosives. Sparse electric guitars build the futuristic setting in the background. Aside from quiet religious chanting at the outset of "Lust at the Abbey," Marianelli's work here is always disconcerting in tone, balancing on the edge of becoming a horror score, though always maintaining enough elegance in execution to retain its dramatic roots. The final cue features a surprising climax: Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," complete with the sounds of fireworks added by Marianelli, once again symbolizes victory in Europe. This, as well as the three source songs (either from the classic era or in mellow contemporary performances), breaks the firm grip of Marianelli's score. It may not stun you with its memorability, but V for Vendetta will entertain you with Marianelli's continuously intelligent ideas.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 63:01

• 1. Remember Remember (6:42) • 2. Cry Me a River - performed by Julie London (2:48) • 3. Governments Should Be Afraid of their People (3:11) • 4. Evey's Story (2:48) • 5. Lust at the Abbey (3:17) • 6. The Red Diary (7:33) • 7. Valerie (8:48) • 8. Evey Reborn (3:50) • 9. I Found a Reason - performed by Cat Power (2:02) • 10. England Prevails (5:44) • 11. The Dominoes Fall (5:28) • 12. Bird Gerhl - performed by Antony & the Johnsons (3:17) • 13. Knives and Bullets (and Cannons Too)* (7:33)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. Beware of several annoying advertisement cards (for unrelated products) that will fall out of the packaging when you open it.

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