| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Vanity Fair (Mychael Danna)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are invigorated by playful, classically-inclined
period scores, a tone merged here with Mychael Danna's orchestrally
dramatic and romantic mode.
Avoid it... if you were mesmerized by the mysterious but beautiful Sissel performance of one of the score's themes in the film and are hoping for more of the same elegance spread throughout the rest of Danna's score.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Vanity Fair: (Mychael Danna) Modern moviegoers may
not realize the lengthy history of the "Vanity Fair" story on screens
big and small; the classic novel by William Makepeace Thackeray had been
translated to the big screen six times by 2000, but four of those films
were produced in the silent era and the two others were viewed in the
1930's. Three different television mini-series have been inspired by the
tale, the most notable of which being a 6-part series on BBC and A&E in
1998. After a long silence from the major studios, everyone spoke out
about Vanity Fair at once in 2002, with two concurrent and
separate recreations of the tale announced for major production. Through
delays and backlot maneuverings, however, only one of the two films was
ever made, and despite significant talk about the film being a
Cannes-type of limited release, Vanity Fair was finally chosen to
receive a wide release for September of 2004. That decision was
ultimately a mistake, however, as the movie suffered mixed reviews and
failed to recoup its budget during its theatrical run. The story of
Vanity Fair follows the ambitions of Becky Sharp, a clever girl
born into the lower classes of England during the early years of the
19th Century. She uses her intelligence as well as her allure to climb
the social ladder and creates ripples in a society not quite ready to
handle her soap opera methodology. Issues of the money of her potential
suitors and friends, as well as love triangles left and right, create an
environment in which any modern man will wilt. Director Mira Nair of
India is recognized for her narratives and documentaries about world
cultures, and for Vanity Fair, she reunited with composer Mychael
Danna, whose more distinct career efforts at the time included Nair's
Monsoon Wedding. Danna is no stranger to writing music for varied
cultures and historical settings, and his diverse talents would be well
suited for Vanity Fair. The composer's approach to the film, not
surprisingly, revolved around the idea of classical structure, but
rather than allowing an inherent stuffiness to prevail in his music,
Danna manages to emulate the personality of the primary character and
thus move the score at his own playful pace.
Danna does not deviate much from the confines of the orchestra that embodies the historical mores of the period, although he does manage to avoid the pitfalls of an overly consistent and predictable soundscape. If classical emulation doesn't interest you, then Danna's prancing adaptation of that traditional style to mimic Sharp's attitudes may be equally irritating to your ears. But the composer always seems to be walking the fine line in Vanity Fair between the expected piano and string traditionalism and the more contemporary rhythms and vocals that likely represent the forward-looking Sharp in her journey. Both sides of that coin are featured in the highlights of the score. The film opens with a short and elegant (but mysterious in ways that remind of both Angelo Badalamenti and James Newton Howard's styles of the period) vocal performance by famed soprano Sissel Kyrkjebo of one of Danna's primary themes in "She Walks in Beauty." This, followed by two subsequent cues with wordless female vocals and a touch of Danna mysticism heard in short snippets throughout the score, is perhaps the most appealing angle of the work. The lack of further exploration into the vocal element is an odd action by Danna, for a considerable effort towards that artistic line of thinking must have been explicitly discussed in order to secure the services of Sissel for the recording. Despite the dominant advertising pushing Sissel's involvement with the score (and make no mistake about it, her voice is as outstanding as always) her contribution to Vanity Fair is unfortunately minimal. The first full score cue on the album release, "Exchange," expands upon this theme and introduces it to the pompous and highly structured classical side of the score. The only subsequent reprise of Sissel and this theme together comes in the frightfully short "The Virtue Betrayed" near the conclusion. The first half of the album lets rip with some substantial and awesome melodic recitals, whether in a quartet format or, more typically, with the full ensemble. The pronounced timpani in "Steyne the Pasha," leading to a massive thematic outburst, is not to be missed. Absent from the score is Danna's usual palette of eclectic, worldly instrumentation, the only deviation coming in the East Indian source material heard in the soundtrack's latter half. If you prefer the string-dominated, classical side of the score, then you could very well be enticed by Danna's lengthy lighthearted rhythms and overall playful nature. A highlight in this regard is the "Sir Pitt's Marriage Proposal" cue, which dances between sections of the orchestra with great comedy. There is rarely a serious moment in the orchestral performances for Vanity Fair outside of the handful of cues in the mid-section relating to the outbreak of war with France. Stereotypical trumpet calls marking the call to duty in "Announcement of Battle" are surprisingly generic given Danna's capabilities (unless he simply viewed the usage from a source-like perspective). The more somber moments are marked by piano solos (some by Danna himself) and period-inspired vocal performances. The two songs conveyed by Custer Larue and solo piano are awkwardly inserted with a strikingly different mix and break up the flow of the score. The soundtrack suffers from similar problems during its other deviations from Danna's score. While the story does call for a switch to ethnic music during Sharp's interactions with India-bound characters, the two semi-original Indian songs cannot be more of a contrast from Danna's work. Despite the composer's involvement in their production, it is odd that he did not preface them to any degree in his score. Therein may lie the weakness of the overall musical presentation for Vanity Fair; the score's very consistent loyalty to the Western orchestra, while it may perfectly match Sharp's prevailing attitudes about her position in life, doesn't mature or change location throughout the film. That may be Danna's point, but on album the final handful of cues alternate in jarring fashion between the original score material and that of Hakim and Shankar Ehsaan Loy. Overall, the score has bright and optimist moments that make for a fantastic classically-inclined listening experience. Sissel's painfully short performance is another reason to enjoy and be frustrated by this album. In addition to an identity crisis in the product's latter half, the sound quality of the album does exhibit some slight but distracting distortion in the fuller moments of "No Lights After Eleven" and "Ride to London," perhaps indicating over-inflated gain levels in the mixing. All things considered, Vanity Fair is still a commendable score, despite unexplored artistic avenues and immense potential in its highlights gone unrealized. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 46:24
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
Copyright ©
2004-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Vanity Fair are Copyright © 2004, Decca/Universal and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 8/20/04 and last updated 10/5/11. |
