Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #984
Written 7/20/98, Revised 8/29/08
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Buy it... if you are typically attracted to Rachel Portman's predictably
melodic works of the 1990's and seek an entry that is a bit more instrumentally
and culturally diverse than usual.
Avoid it... if no amount of additional brass or percussion on top of
Portman's comfortable strings and woodwinds can convince you to give her steadily
pleasant tones another chance.
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| Portman |
War of the Buttons: (Rachel Portman) A largely unknown 1994
arthouse film, John Robert's adaptation of Louis Pergaud's novel "La Guerre des
Boutons" pits two idealistic groups of young, Irish school boys against each other
in spirited, foul-mouthed battle. Their outdoor adventures are realized against the
backdrop of beautiful cinematography of Ireland (which is a switch from the
original French locale), causing the production to serve as a true representation
of the country and its beauty and culture. Rising composer Rachel Portman wrote and
recorded the score with Irish players in Dublin, making the project one of
convincing ethnic authenticity. Portman was in the process of bursting into the
American mainstream while continuing her writing of lesser-known dramas back in
Europe. Her score for The Joy Luck Club had been met with a chorus of cheers
from the film score community the previous year, and her concurrent efforts for
Only You would prove to define the composer from that year forward as a
regular expert of lush, romantic music for the big screen. Her styles are typically
easily recognizable and frightfully consistent (especially for those who believe
that one score of hers is more than enough of a sampling from all of them), but
War of the Buttons stands out as a distinct piece in her career. The
defining element in this particular score is the extra percussion that Portman
demanded through her composition in order to adequately rumble the floor during the
scenes of battle between the two groups of boys. With the settings for these
confrontations often looking spectacular, the music needed to match the visuals
with a similarly powerful expansive tone. Also of importance, of course, is the
Irish flavor necessary for the project, and Portman handles this requirement
through the usual heavy reliance on woodwinds to carry her themes. To her credit,
she inserts just enough of that ethnic flavor to keep the score effective without
allowing it to become burdensome to those who aren't fans of Irish-tinted
music.
The film opens immediately with these statements of ethnicity. A
solo flute carries most of the catchy, Irish tune at the heart of the score, aided
by the usual string accompaniment from the composer. Even in these sensible and
often cute performances of theme, Portman immediately establishes the brass with
much more authority than in her other scores. In general,
War of the Buttons
is a brass and percussion-inclined effort from Portman, which is exactly why the
work is unique in her career. Early battle sequences are performed with a messy,
though effective set of rhythms performed by timpani and a variety of assorted
drums, with brass often accentuating rhythmic progressions. The battle sequences
slowly gain more composure as those scenes of imagination become seemingly
weightier, with the opening of the "Battle of Bunduff Castle" cue starting with an
inspired snare rhythm and leading into nearly noble bursts of thematic energy. As
the composer would accomplish in the similarly percussive live-action
Pinocchio in 1997, Portman allows the drums to lighten its attitude for a
few of the cues, including the inventive "Mobilization" near the beginning of the
album. The brass occasionally break through their supporting roles and offer heroic
statements of theme at the end of battle sequences, and they eventually flourish in
the helicopter rescue scene near the finale of the film; at the very end of that
cue, the brass section finally takes the title theme away from the woodwinds.
Between the heightened role of the horns, the rumbling percussion heard throughout
the score, and the truly spirited Irish flavor of the music,
War of the
Buttons is a score that Portman fans will recognize and appreciate as a unique
endeavor in her career. In many ways, this work ironically has a more convincing
militaristic tone than her dramatic composition for
Hart's War nearly ten
years later. Overall, it isn't strong enough to easily capture the attention of
non-Portman collectors, but it will likely interest fans of her melodic styles who
yearn to hear it packaged in different ways.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Rachel Portman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31
(in 30 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.26
(in 28,139 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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