FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW

Review of What Dreams May Come (Michael Kamen)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if one of Michael Kamen's most robust orchestral scores can lure you away from the popular rejected score by Ennio Morricone for the film.

Avoid it... if you expect the straight forward romanticism that defined some of Kamen's more impressive love themes and accompanying songs.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

What Dreams May Come: (Michael Kamen) The spiritual side of the concepts of life and death have inspired some of the most compelling films and soundtracks in history, and What Dreams May Come is no exception. The film is perhaps the most thought-provoking display of special effects wizardry in the digital age, using painted illustrations and vivid colors to present fantastic and imaginative visions of the afterlife. As the primary couple played by Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra navigate their way through Heaven and Hell, they are surrounded by overwhelming visual and aural interaction, giving Vincent Ward's film a unique selling point that, quite surprisingly, failed to gain much box office traction. The film's soundtrack was a source of wild speculation in 1998, with the legendary Italian maestro Ennio Morricone writing a massive orchestral and choral score for the occasion. His melodies and typical use of voices were nothing less than spectacular in their religious fortitude, existing a level of emotional power heard in only the composer's famous efforts. But given that the film itself is already an extremely weighty ride of emotions, the filmmakers determined that Morricone's approach was simply too heavy-handed to make the film attractive to audiences already treated to a sappy ending in the story. With only a matter of weeks before the American opening of the film, veteran Michael Kamen was asked to provide a replacement score that was a little more upbeat and accessible for audiences. Kamen expressed his immense respect and admiration for Morricone at the time, and while he claimed that never heard Morricone's score before embarking on his own emergency work, he acknowledged in a statement at the time that "there are many ways to skin a cat." The score that would result from Kamen's effort treats What Dreams May Come as a love story first and foremost, including a soft and likeable song as the primary melody of the film. Given Kamen's reputation for translating lovely, Oscar-nominated ballads into strong scores, the similar approach here is not surprising. Fans of both Kamen and Morricone will recognize that the maestro's score is an incredibly impressive, superior piece of music. Whether it could have worked in the film or not is another matter.

Ironically, while both scores exist near the top of each composer's career, neither one seems to have hit exactly the right note for What Dreams May Come. Morricone obviously went over the top with the religious aspect of the story and lost touch with the personal element. Kamen's music definitely has a personal touch, but is lacking some of the element of magic and the supernatural that the film desperately needed. Kamen does instill some sense of wonder through the use creative solo performances throughout the orchestrally conservative score. A pleasant bed of soft orchestrations is given life by fluttering woodwinds, tapping percussion, or elegant solo string and voice contributions. While sub-themes may not be transparent, the demeanor of the score is at times playful and reflective, and you could easily become lost in its atmosphere. His theme is based on a song melody that he and composer Mark Snow had written years prior. Making up the song "Beside You," this theme is very attractive as a folksy representation of companionship. It debuts in "I Once Met This Beautiful Girl By a Lake" and is only slightly referenced until "Together in Heaven" and the final suite cue allow full ensemble development. The song itself is likable, though Mick Hucknell's voice is perhaps too nasal for the story. Without a mid-section that is well grounded in Kamen's theme, the score meanders through the landscape of the film without taking many chances. By far the most interesting portions are those that deal with suspense and the location of Hell. The "Stormy Seas" and "Sea of Faces" cues offer some of Kamen's most robust action material, with far more depth in performance than the material in his earlier, more well known works. The performances by The London Metropolitan Orchestra are well recorded and yield several memorable moments in and of themselves. Kamen's last minute effort is obviously very commendable, and there are ten to fifteen minutes of orchestral bliss to be found in What Dreams May Come. But between the nagging feeling that the score needed a little more fantasy to go with its romance and the presence of Morricone's rejected work on the secondary collecting market, the score leaves you wanting a little more. Something intangible is missing in the spirit of this music and it's difficult to pinpoint what it is. On album, though, there is merit to be heard in both scores.  ****

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 60:41

• 1. I Once Met this Beautiful Girl by the Lake (2:01)       That Was the Last Time We Saw the Children Alive (3:23) • 2. Children's Melody (0:34)       Tunnel Crash/Christy's Death/The Journey Begins (3:05)       I Still Exist (0:40)       Annie Loses Faith (1:11) • 3. Summerland - The Painted World (2:56)       The Painted Bird Files (1:31)       Christy Flies (1:11) • 4. Marie's World (Leona is Marie) (2:06) • 5. Longing (Lost Children) (3:49) • 6. Annie's Suicide (1:24)       Soul Mates (3:11) • 7. In Hell (1:19)       Stormy Seas (2:55)       Recognition (Albert is Ian) (1:34) • 8. Sea of Faces/Falling Through Hell (4:12)       Annie's Room (1:56) • 9. Beside You (1:08)       Divorce (2:40) • 10. Together in Hell (3:03)       Death and Transfiguration (2:52)       Together in Heaven (2:33) • 11. Reunited/Reincarnation/When I was Young (3:55) • 12. Beside You - performed by Mick Hucknell (4:42)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film. In an interview conducted late in 1998, Michael Kamen stated the following about the circumstances of his hiring:

[How did you get involved with the project?] "By accident. I think some of the best things in life happen by accident. It was at the expense of a man that I admire tremendously, and I have to be as philosophical and self-aggrandising at the same time as I can be. I'm happy that I got that score. I probably would have been happier had they come to me first, but the fact that they went to Ennio Morricone, whose work I really admire, personally admire, and enjoy, the fact that they went to him for the score was understandable. The fact that his score, for one reason or another, didn't fit their bill, was also kind of understandable, because he chose... you know... a film composer looks at the story and comes up with musical solutions for that story. There are many, many solutions that one could choose - there are many ways to skin a cat, you know.

What Ennio reacted to, I think, was the very serious, touching, philosophical and metaphysical nature of the film. The film is a very serious one, and concerns death and love, two fantastic themes to be involved in musically. The first time I looked at the film, the first event you see in the film of any significance, two minutes in, is the children, who are the product of this whirlwind relationship you see forming, a fifteen year marriage takes place and you meet the family and their kids at breakfast and, two minutes later, he's waving goodbye to them in the car, and the camera suddenly slows down and he says "that's the last time we saw the children alive". And that's the beginning of the film, that's the first thing you see and it knocks you for six, it just takes all the stuffing out of you. As a father, to even contemplate that reality is so beyond the bounds of reason. If you choose to dwell on the tragedy of that moment, if you choose to dwell on the profound sadness and sense of loss, you could easily write a very profound piece of music that would make the rest of the film unwatchable. You can't go any further."

Copyright © 1998-2024, 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 What Dreams May Come are Copyright © 1998, Beyond/BMG and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 10/15/98 and last updated 3/30/08.