District 9 Composed by Clinton Shorter
Sony Pictures Ent. (2009)
Rating:
6/10
“Those who loved the
film may find CLINTON SHORTER's score a pleasing reminder of the
unique movie-going experience of DISTRICT 9...at least until such
time that it's available on DVD or Blu Ray.”
Grounded Exoticism
Review by Christopher Coleman
"There's a lot of technology in the
film, and we really wanted that to be represented in the score too. So
it's a hybrid score for sure, of orchestra and synths, which is right
up my alley."
Director Neill Blomkamp's DISTRICT 9 is a triumph in many ways. While I
don't believe it to be as revolutionary as a STAR WARS or THE MATRIX were,
there's hardly an argument to be heard against it's the film's many
successes. One of the biggest, or at least most talked about, successes is
that of the box office. Boasting an ROI that rarely a feature film ever
sees, DISTRICT 9 was decidedly profitable after only its first weekend -
raking in some $37 million at a production cost of $30 million. The reason
for such success can be credited, to varying degrees, to the savvy viral
marketing, the overwhelmingly positive critical buzz, and the name of
"Peter Jackson" hovering over the film's title. However, we know that the
best marketing, star power, and even critical praise doesn't ensure a
film's financial success. Instead, Neill Blomkamp's crafty little film has
won fans over because it is simply a well made movie...on almost every
level. DISTRICT 9 is throw-back to the lost art of making the
audience, not merely watch, but experience the story. And in the case of
DISTRICT 9, it is a story that we can hardly predict or anticipate. We
don't know the actors. We don't know the story and the sensation that so
many are raving about is nothing more than "freshness," "newness," or this
thing called "originality." Blomkamp so very slyly mixes reality with
fantasy and sucks us all right in. Now, with a movie constructed in such a
unique way, swinging from gritty documentary, to sci-fi/action, and back
again, the demand upon the film's original score would also be a truly
unique challenge for the composer. Just as Blomkamp, after the termination
of his Halo-movie project, returned to this original premise found in his
short, ALIVE IN JOBURG, he returned to a previous collaborator and friend,
composer CLINTON SHORTER.
CLINTON SHORTER's score is a peculiar thing. Some are underwhelmed with
this score as stand-alone experience, while those who've seen the movie
say that they didn't notice any score at all. Ah. The Golden Goal of the
Composer achieved. The music becomes an indistinguishable part of the
whole. What Shorter faced was the difficult task of keeping us locked into
the matter-of-factness of the film, while also giving the audience room to
experience and enjoy the telling. His score must journey back to the
Johannesburg, South Africa of the 1980s, and bring us face to face with
racism and the fears that fuel it. Certainly, this is fertile ground for
documentary film-making. Now, apartheid has been well chronicled in film
over the last 30 years, but the racism we see in DISTRICT 9 is not a
black/white issue, but a human/non-human one. Conscious of it or not,
audiences are affected by the film's score, but what happens when the
film, itself, defies convention? This late Summer entry does just
that and what CLINTON SHORTER has to accomplish is no small feat.
CLINTON SHORTER, really writes two scores at once: one for a documentary
and one for a sci-fi/action film. Cleverly, he layers the one atop the
other, making the overall experience cohesive. The film's documentary
elements demanded something ethereal, brooding just below the surface of
things, augmenting the unfolding story point for point. In such moments it
keeps us serious and in tune with the information being disseminated...and
slowly draws us in. When the action sequences finally kick into gear in
the film's third act, we have already been covertly transitioned from
documentary to action-film and Shorter's music plays an important role in
this. The shift in the story does demands an equal shift in the tone of
the score. The tempo quickens. Percussions become even more numerous and
aggressive. Layered in amongst these spotlight elements, Shorter brings in
the vocals and string motifs that were established in the first half of
the film.
DISTRICT 9's musical identity is captured succinctly in track 1, "District
9," where ambient synths are layered with African vocals. This sets
the serious, documentary tone. The solo vocalist appropriately sings of
"the mysteries of life" via lyrics which combine two indigenous African
languages: Fulani and Malinke. The effect is grounded exoticism. The
second half of the track plays as counterpoint to the first, where
pensive, layered strings low brass melody, deep percussion accents, and
militaristic drums build to a forceful climax. The denouement of the
piece, at last, provides us with a bit of emotional heart as the string
section plays through a poignant progression. Whether he includes
electronic elements, moments of dissonance, or middle eastern flavors, the
backbone of the score remains the ideas introduced in the opening track.
The end result is an original that works perfectly in the film. At the
same time, DISTRICT 9 may not be the first score you reach for when in the
mood an action or sci-fi score. The blessing the score was within the film
slightly curses it's playability outside of that context. My in-film
rating here would comfortably be a 7 or 8, but taking stand-alone-listenability
into account (as we always do), my rating must be lowered a bit. The
fandom over this film has been furious, yet I'm not sure if this fandomium
reaches down to owning the music as so often happens with hit films.
Those who loved the film may find CLINTON SHORTER's score a pleasing
reminder of the unique movie-going experience of DISTRICT 9...at least
until such time that it's available on DVD or Blu Ray.
