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“YARED scores have become somewhat elusive on
album, and unfortunately, IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY does little to
correct that ill.”
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Ever Elusive
Review by Edmund Meinerts
ANGELINA JOLIE makes a surprising directorial debut with IN THE LAND OF
BLOOD AND HONEY, a film that uses the love story between a Bosnian POV and
the Bosnian Serb overseer of the camp in which she is held captive to
depict the atrocities of the Bosnian war. Casting exclusively local actors
who themselves lived through the horrific conflict, and with a mostly
Bosnian and Serbo-Croatian script, JOLIE has been praised for her sincere
attempt to bring this often-forgotten war to the attention of the public.
Since its limited release at the end of December, however, the film has
picked up some criticism for being too heavy-handed in its message and its
dramatized, and some have said caricatured portrayal of the Serbs.
Handling musical duties for this project is Lebanese composer and former
art house favorite GABRIEL YARED, who made a splash in Hollywood during
the late 1990s on such popular, well-known dramatic and romantic projects
as THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE and THE ENGLISH PATIENT.
Film music collectors, however, mostly remember his involvement in the
musical fiasco of TROY, for which YARED’S enormous score, a labor of love
on which the composer had worked for over a year, was unceremoniously
replaced by a last-minute JAMES HORNER effort. His career since then has
slowed down considerably, only taking on a handful of lesser-known, often
foreign films. In short, YARED scores have become somewhat elusive on
album, and unfortunately, IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY does little to
correct that ill.
The main reason for that, as a quick glance at the liner notes will
readily make apparent, is the fact that YARED’S contribution to the film
is limited to only a little more than a quarter of the album, comprising
the first four tracks. The rest is devoted to source songs by little-known
Bosnian artists, with the notable exception of the U2 and BRIAN ENO single
“Miss Sarajevo” (5), which combines BONO’S downbeat, contemporary voice
with an unexpected solo from robust opera tenor LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, to
surprisingly effective genre-bending collaboration. Given the subject
matter of the well-known song, its inclusion on the soundtrack is
unsurprising, but it did not appear in the film.
But back to YARED’S music. His twelve-minute contribution is anchored by a
deeply melancholic theme presented first in “When the Heart Dies” (1) by
the solo voice of NATASA MIRKOVIC. Her voice certainly brings a raw,
emotional flavor to the cue (not unlike TANYA TZAROVSKA’S vocals that
flavored both YARED’S and HORNER’S scores for TROY), but the elusive,
hard-to-pin-down progressions of the theme itself make the cue a somewhat
alienating one that probably works better within its intended context.
More accessible for YARED collectors, perhaps, is “The Loss” (4), the sole
cue on the album to remind of his classically inclined scores of the late
90s. Here, piano and strings offer the theme in a warmer presentation in
which YARED’S romanticism threatens to emerge. Ultimately, however, the
Eastern European twists within the theme’s progressions, as well as a
decidedly ambiguous ascending bass line that is neither threatening nor
comforting, allow melancholy to eventually triumph – as one would expect
from a cue entitled “The Loss”.
“Sables Mouvants” (2) is the most outwardly melodramatic moment of the
score, in which emotional string layers eventually yield to a more
propulsive passage that introduces the score’s only percussion usage, as
well as some decidedly modern, JOHN POWELL-esque string chopping –
certainly not something YARED is particularly well-known for, making it an
interesting departure. “Towards the Unknown” (3) is yet another cue in
which melody and warmth struggle to assert themselves, but ultimately
succumb to the weighty tragedy of the film’s historical backdrop.
The rest of the album is given over to a collection of eight source songs
from various Bosnian artists, and while they might work wonders in
contributing to the film’s authenticity, they offer little to the more
traditional score collector. Fortunately, none of them are truly
unpleasant. “Moja Boznica” (8), an acoustic guitar-led piece with vocals
performed by one of the film’s lead actors, is a particularly good match
for the downbeat tone of YARED’S score. Still, it’s difficult to imagine
many score collectors returning to this portion of the album more than
once.
Ultimately, judging IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY is a somewhat tricky
prospect. On the one hand, it’s hard not to appreciate the effort to,
above all, preserve a level of authenticity in the music for this film,
and by including such a large amount of contemporary songs from the region
in which it takes place, this album does just that. Additionally, the
balance of overwhelming melancholy with hints of warmth within YARED’S
score is intelligently handled, and a good match for the movie’s premise
of a love story troubled by war. However, it is readily apparent that this
soundtrack (produced by YARED, JOLIE and Varese Sarabande regular ROBERT
TOWNSON) was assembled to be a souvenir of the film, and is therefore best
recommended to enthusiasts thereof. Film score fans, however, will most
likely be disappointed with the insubstantial amount of score available on
the album – and what little score does feature is hardly likely to set the
world on fire.
Rating:
5/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
When the Heart
Dies |
4:00 |
*** |
|
2 |
Sables
Mouvants |
3:16 |
**** |
|
3 |
Towards
the
Unknown |
2:17 |
*** |
|
4 |
The
Loss |
3:05 |
**** |
|
5 |
Miss
Sarajevo |
5:45 |
**** |
| 6 |
Evo Jedne Sto Se Svira Na Plazi |
2:54 |
*** |
| 7 |
The Waves |
5:14 |
** |
| 8 |
Moja Bozicna |
4:17 |
*** |
| 9 |
Zemlja |
2:14 |
** |
| 10 |
Tebi Za Ljubav |
3:17 |
** |
| 11 |
Stani Draga |
3:53 |
*** |
| 12 |
Od Srca (From the Heart) |
2:59 |
*** |
| 13 |
A Wish |
3:59 |
** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
47 minutes |
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