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Review of The Village (James Newton Howard)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you succumb to the intoxicating effect of elegant solo
violin performances in flowing rhythmic and enchantingly melodic duties,
aided here by similarly whimsical piano and woodwind beauty to create
authentic period character and subtle suspense.
Avoid it... if the score's fifteen minutes of undeniably lovely passages cannot sustain a listening experience interrupted by several horror cues of terrifying orchestral blasts on an album with poor mastering of volume levels.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Village: (James Newton Howard) After the
surprising success of The Sixth Sense, director M. Night
Shyamalan continued exploring storylines of intrigue that attempt shock
the viewer with significant revelations in their latter halves. His 2004
entry, The Village, was initially one of two films in 2004
originally titled "The Woods." Once again full of darkness and
mysterious characters, Shyamalan's tale tells the story of rural
Covington, Pennsylvania in 1897, a town of less than 100 people that is
confined within its boundaries by woods inhabited by a race of "mythical
creatures." While two central characters pursue romance, the restless
male lead performed by Joaquin Phoenix seeks to end the town's
historical policy of solitude by exploring the forest. By doing so, the
delicate truce between village and forest is violated, and mysterious
events begin to happen in both places. The secret of the creatures lies
with the town's founders and their unusual group decision decades prior
that would make current day libertarians in America thrilled by their
resolve. Logical fallacies abound, but in Shyamalan's world, such
practical matters are not intended to interfere with the plotline
(despite the fact that they actually do). Unlike The Sixth Sense,
Unbreakable, and Signs, The Village represented
Shyamalan's first major journey to a historical age (so to speak), and
to best capture the authenticity of that era, the director again called
upon composer James Newton Howard to add a touch of period mastery to
his usual suspense writing for Shyamalan's films. Indeed, the closest
suspense and horror collaboration in the 2000's to the classic pairing
of Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann was Shyamalan and Howard, and
the composer has proven to be a successful partner in bringing the right
atmosphere of suspense to the table for the director's obsession with
supernatural thrillers. Howard's previous three efforts in the
collaboration did not gain much attention in the mainstream, though they
have remained popular within the nucleus of hardcore film score
collectors. The reigning triumph of the original trilogy was The
Sixth Sense, both in the quality of the film and of the score,
although The Village largely unseated its predecessor in terms of
the allure of its music. Howard earned an Academy Award nomination for
this score, likely the result of a few extremely memorable cues in which
the score is presented alone in the film's sound mix, but on the whole
owing to his choice to employ a virtuoso soloist to aid in the
historical classicism conveyed by the setting.
For the voice of The Village, Howard called upon the talents of teenage sensation Hilary Hahn, a violinist with capabilities discovered at a young age and already performing on Sony Classical albums at the time of this film's release. Her timeless and elegant style of performance is put to strong use throughout the entire length of Howard's score, foreshadowing the similar instrumental and emotional shades of Defiance several years later. Howard's unwavering foundation for The Village is built upon Hahn's violin and the accompanying piano performances of Randy Kerber. With their instrumental roles often meandering restlessly in the background to enhance both the authenticity of the location and the nagging feeling of displacement and, daresay, hope, Howard accentuates their tonal presence of grace with the remaining majority of the orchestra's string section. Moments of solo exploration by the violin are sometimes aided by dainty, high woodwind tones, the flutes representing the innocence of the female lead and her journey to a mysterious world where she is completely out of place. Much of the score presents these instrumental elements in soft, wayward performances that literally blow in the wind and swell and sway from bar to bar. Howard's attention to rhythmic flow, and the associated movement towards the inevitable confrontation with what lies beyond the forest, is a central aspect of his contribution to The Village, and he enhances the quiet uncertainty factor in any given scene depending upon the tempo of these ostinato figures. There are two recurring themes of significance in the score, the first tied specifically to these swaying rhythmic sequences. Heard first on strings at 1:30 into "Noah Visits," a floating identity is the representation of the story's location and the intrigue of its loneliness. Over harp and strings, this theme goes slightly Medieval in its expression in two tones by exotic flute, a technique reprised over meandering solo violin tones late in "It is Not Real" that yields to a moment of defiant brass resolve at 3:05 into that cue. The primary theme of The Village, however, is literally its true heart, emphasizing the love and companionship aspect of the film with an extremely elegant melody heard prominently in four or five places in the score. Introduced at the outset of "What Are You Asking Me?" on solo violin, the idea interrupts the other theme later in that cue and eventually scampers around it in respectfully alternating performances. To a large degree, "What Are You Asking Me?" is the best summary of the two melodies in The Village despite not containing the most sensational performances of their either one; it never the less provides for over six minutes of extremely smoothing listening. The love theme and primary identity of The Village is truly outstanding, as alluring as anything in Howard's forthcoming classic Lady in the Water and exhibiting some of the best emphasis in the technically precise solo performances on violin and piano. Its most memorable performance comes during a stunning sequence in "Those We Don't Speak Of," emphasizing a rescue scene in which Phoenix's character saves others from the creatures attacking the town's homes. This gorgeous cue, starting at about the 2:35 mark into the larger recording for the attack scene, is remarkably poignant on screen and incidentally introduces an under-emphasized, descending sub-theme by Howard at its outset that is reprised rarely thereafter (most notably at 2:15 in "The Vote"). The main theme caps off that important cue, and it returns in even more lovely tones at the outset of "The Gravel Road," in which the idea is accompanied by delicate woodwinds in counterpoint (before a very bad track edit at 1:28). These performances of the love theme, along with some slightly more grim versions in "The Vote," are remarkable enough to alone recommend the score as a whole. Of course, given that the film is one of suspense (and, some might say, "fear fetish"), there are several less elegant cues to keep listeners on the edge of their seats. In "The Bad Color," Howard sustains creepy tones with eerie sound effects produced by the orchestra, including the ambience of howling animals, wind chimes, and rustling chains, among others. The first half of "Those We Don't Speak Of" opens with an aggressive strike of the orchestra and features disjointed and startling brass for the two minutes of the creatures' approach. Two late cues, "The Forbidden Line" and "It Is Not Real," consist of the majority of pure horror writing in The Village, utilizing tingling sound effects and extended bass string notes and building into crescendos of pounding percussion and distorted, wavering brass (and maybe even an accordion sandwiched in between). As a whole, the score certainly has frightening moments, and it unfortunately ends on the album presentation without any note of interest or narrative resolution, but the whimsical piano, woodwind, and solo violin performances in between, and especially those with the backing of the full ensemble, are pure magic. There are mastering issues with the album that cause severe volume fluctuations, though, so if you amplify the softer, melodic moments to appreciate their subtle beauty, be sure to turn the volume back down before a terrifying blast rattles your brain. Such is the nature of a good suspense score in general, but the album's mastering doesn't do you any favors. At any rate, The Village stands right behind Lady in the Water as some of the most intoxicatingly beautiful music by Howard for this collaboration or, for that matter, his career as a whole. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 42:29
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra
information about the score or film.
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