 |
| Fenton |
Valiant: (George Fenton) A digitally animated British
film from Vanguard Studios,
Valiant was co-produced by the producer
of
Shrek and is aimed at British audiences with its all-British cast
and stubborn English humor. It's the United Kingdom's attempt to capture the
same enthusiasm (and box office) as Aardman Animation's
Chicken Run
of several years ago, and there's just enough humor aimed at Americans in
Valiant to make the film viable for an international audience as
well. It's a hard stretch to say that the film is very loosely based on real
events given that the story involves a patriotic pigeon who decides to go to
war for King and country in the Royal Homing Pigeon Service during World War
II. But the British military actually gave medals for bravery to carrier
pigeons at the time, so one could conceivably say that the story is partly
based on true events. All joking aside, the film's animation is adequate,
and the voices of everyone from Ewan McGregor to John Cleese bless the
variety of pigeons and other birds on screen, although the film has failed
to generate the widespread interest of the Pixar variety. Kids will enjoy
the continuous fart, belch, and armpit jokes, although the endless
one-liners that propel the best of the genre are too few and far between in
Valiant to meet expectations. The film is Britain's first
full-fledged wide release of their own animated-CGI film, and who better to
serve the music for this inauguration than George Fenton? While Fenton's
composing career has been strong for two decades, it wasn't until his grand
score for the wildly popular television series
The Blue Planet that
Fenton became a popular name in many parts of the U.K. After years of
conducting concerts of his music for
The Blue Planet around the
world, his score for the movie adaptation,
Deep Blue, only improved
the quality of his work for the documentary genre. With this popularity in
mind, Fenton's involvement with
Valiant is not surprising, and the
composer assembles performances from three orchestral and band ensembles to
provide a massive comedy score for the film. Everything about
Valiant
is British, and Fenton lathers on another layer of pomp to the film with his
score.
The first reaction of a soundtrack collector will be to
compare
Valiant to Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell's score for
Chicken Run. The only common characteristic of the two, however, is
the frenetic pace of the fully-orchestral rhythms. Whereas
Chicken
Run was outwardly comedic in a slapstick style,
Valiant elevates
its comedy to even more grandiose levels and occasionally borders on being a
legitimate score for wartime action. It's a far cry from Fenton's classic
Memphis Belle score for the same war, but its respect for British war
marches is plainly evident. The sensibilities of the score hail from the
days of Ron Goodwin's high-flying wartime action, but the power that
resonates from the pulsating snare drums and deep base has a touch of David
Arnold's more boldly bombastic nature for American bravado. A highly
structured score, Fenton's score is almost defined by the crashing cymbals
in his rhythms and snappy brass themes that will stir your heart. Several
themes are introduced in the short film, including fully developed ideas for
the Royal Homing Pigeon Service (a nod to Jerry Goldsmith's general themes),
a woodwind love theme (for that nurse pigeon, of course), and a theme for
encounters with the evil German falcon force. The two more voluminous themes
are both military fanfares of the highest order, often beginning with cute
whistling or woodwind performances and eventually building into
heavily-layered brass and percussion affairs suitable for any more serious
war film. The personality of the score is very consistent, with even low key
cues such as "Von Talon and the Bastion" maintaining a deep bass string note
or quivering strings in the background. The importance of these pigeons'
intentions and missions is never in doubt when listening to Fenton's score,
and while noble in every sense, the blind forward nature of Fenton's marches
does become monotonous by the end of the recording. A performance of swing
pieces by a secondary ensemble are a welcome break, as is the performance by
the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, which has served a few films in the
past, most notably Eric Coates'
The Dambusters in the 1950's, a score
that also contributes to Fenton's style in
Valiant. The only major
musical detraction from both the film and album is the inclusion of a R&B
rendition of "Shoo Shoo Baby" at the end, a completely senseless insertion
in both cases. Overall, Fenton's score for
Valiant is spirited and
heroic, but lacks in the variety and inventiveness that has defined his
better known recent efforts. The album was only available on Fenton's
own Debonair Records label in the U.K. (which releases many of his
obscure works) between April and August 2005, and came at an elevated
import price in America. Disney released it regularly in the latter
month with identical contents and slightly different art.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For George Fenton reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.64
(in 14 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.43
(in 16,898 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The identical inserts on both albums include notes about the film, background information
on the performing groups, and an overview of Fenton's career.
