Ceremony Composed by Eric D. Johnson
Lakeshore Records (2011)
Rating:
4/10
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“What makes CEREMONY
truly difficult to approach as a score is not only the style of the
music, but the progression heard throughout and the way it is
structured.”
Unceremonial
Review by Richard Buxton
One of the greatest dividing aspects of the success of a film score is the
in-film experience and the out-of-film listening experience. Your regular
run-of-the-mill underscore might be employed expertly in creating suspense
and atmosphere as the film motors onwards, yet as a pure listening
experience it may categorically fail. Depending on your musical tastes,
ERIC D. JOHNSON’S score for CEREMONY epitomizes this conflict between
listening states.
CEREMONY, written and directed by MAX WINKLER, tells of young writer Sam
Davis (Michael Angarano) and his attempt to halt the wedding and win the
heart of Zoe (Uma Thurman). What unravels is somewhat of a love it or hate
it film and the same can almost be said of the score.
Heard as an accompaniment to the film, ERIC D. JOHNSON’S quirky
guitar-laden score is undoubtedly a good fit. Not once does the music
threaten to outshine the film, rather it accents it, emphasizing the
awkward and seemingly futile optimism seen in the character of Sam. The
underlying atmosphere of the onscreen events is of a constantly
contrasting nature. A happy-go-lucky façade lays way to an almost
disturbing depression as the protagonist constantly corroborates the
suspicion that he has little going for him. The consistent uplifting
buoyancy of the score, exemplified in “Dos Gauchos en El Camino” (2),
works well in conveying the character of Sam and the initially deceptive
character depth.
What makes CEREMONY truly difficult to approach as a score is not only the
style of the music, but the progression heard throughout and the way it is
structured. Little to no development can be heard, no matter what order
the tracks are played in. Playing the soundtrack in reverse, even when
including the licensed tracks offers no insight into the events of the
film, a characteristic present in most traditional film scores. The
grooving bass line of “Married?! (8) is of a significantly differing
nature instrumentally to the meandering “Overture” (1), but offers no
indication of the how different the emotions felt during the moments it is
heard in the film might be. The lackadaisical wandering of “At The
Mohican” (3) is effectively cloned in the subsequent track “Uncle Teddy”
(3), with only the tempo seeing a significant change.
This unwavering consistency will make for a difficult and lethargic
listening experience for anyone outside those who take an immediate liking
to the sound JOHNSON has crafted. The composer has certainly created an
effective sound, in that it is unerringly faithful and entirely convincing
to the style he has chosen. The instrumentation and the methods with which
he has used it are honestly very efficient “Sam by the Window” (10) would
be an evocative and effective piece in any other score, but placed between
the incessantly dreamy strumming of “Paper Chase” (14) or the relaxing
“Uncle Teddy” (4), the emotions heard in the piece are a dime a dozen.
JOHNSON’S score could easily masquerade as a regular album release, devoid
of the name CEREMONY, and the majority of the general public would be
none-the-wiser. Away from the film, it offers no indication that it
actually is a score and undoubtedly suffers when evaluated as a film’s
musical accompaniment.
While it shouldn’t come as any surprise, the licensed tracks are no
different, which is perhaps a great compliment to those involved in
selecting these tracks for inclusion. The likes of “Papa Hobo” (15) and
“Plots and Entrees” (11) are almost unnervingly similar to ERIC D.
JOHNSON’S score. Ringo Starr’s “It Don’t Come Easy” (12) is most likely
the greatest deviation from the general feeling of the score, but still
retains a strikingly similar atmosphere.
The most impressive aspect of ERIC D. JOHNSON’S score for CEREMONY is just
how well his music fits the film. It is in placing the music in a
track-list that it ultimately fails however, and becomes an
often-irritating experience for those that do not take an immediate liking
to the style.
Rating:
4/10
Track
Track Title
Track Time
Rating
1
Overture
1:34
**
2
Dos Gauchos
en El Camino
3:10
****
3
At the
Mohican
1:31
**
4
Uncle
Teddy
1:20
**
5
Brief
Encounter
2:00
**
6
La La La Lies (by Peter Townsend)
1:58
***
7
Zoe on the Beach
1:44
**
8
Married?!
2:02
***
9
Never You Done that (by General Public)
4:11
**
10
Sam by the Window
1:57
***
11
Plots and Entrees (by Van Dyke Parks)
0:54
***
12
It Don't Come Easy (by Ringo Starr)
3:03
***
13
Marshall Finds the Ring
0:47
**
14
Paper Chase
1:25
*
15
Papa Hobo (by Ezra Koenig of the band Vampire Weekend)
