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“After the evocative HOUSE OF SAND
AND FOG and surprisingly interesting THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, LIFE
BEFORE HER EYES is a disappointment.”
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Almost-nothingness
Review by Christopher Coleman
Pairing up again with director Vadim Perelman was full of potential. James
Horner's emotionally deep score for Perelman's last film, HOUSE OF SAND
AND FOG, was a signicant contributor to the power of the film. Their first
collaboration provided one of the more emotionally charged and throught
provoking movie experiences of 2006. Again the two come together to tell
another tragic story in LIFE BEFORE HER EYES.
Even more visually stunning than his last film, the LIFE BEFORE YOUR EYES,
tells the sad tale of a woman, Diana, who is scarred by Columbine-like
shooting at her high-school. Fifteen years older, she has a daughter of
her own, who is more like her than she would want her to be, and now
struggles with the renewed memories of the horrific event. It seems to be
en vogue to, whenever directors choose to tell a story in a-typical
fashion (ie. obscure angle or ending-twist), summarily dismiss them as
being pretentious and too high-minded. M. Night Shyamalan has suffered
this fate and now Vadim Perelman does as well. Yes...LIFE BEFORE HER EYES
might be "a bit much" for those who belong to the
blockbuster-or-die-crowd, but sometimes it is nice to have other parts of
the brain or, God forbid, a part of the soul, stimulated or challenged.
With all that said, LIFE BEFORE HER EYES, as a whole, isn't quite as
satisfying as Perelman's HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and one major reason is
because of JAMES HORNER's score.
While LIFE BEFORE HER EYES shares some characteristics with HOUSE OF SAND
AND FOG, it takes "understatement" to another level. Both scores offer
slow tempo-ed pieces comprised of strings, synths, occasional percussion,
and piano leads. Unlike HOUSE, there is no respite from this minimal and
somber tone in LIFE BEFORE HER EYES - at least not until we reach the
final track, "Young Diana's Future - A Future that Could Have Been" (12).
It's track after track of virtual, emotional, almost-nothingness. What is
ironically intriguing is that most the pieces here are filled with tried
and true Horner instrumentation and arrangement except for that fact that
there is usually one instrument or another that takes the lead. For LIFE
BEFORE HER EYES, the closest we get to his is the piano (played by James
Horner himself) and the occasional wordless vocal.
Compared to the rest of the score, track 12, is fairly aggressive -
starting off with pounding and clanking percussion (that reminds of
climactic moments from films like LEGENDS OF THE FALL or BRAVEHEART), but,
of course, it never erupts into a beautiful fanfare as we've heard Horner
do many times before. For this film, quite the opposite is true. The music
dives back down into the realms of the almost-silent as the "truth" is
unveiled at the story's end. Horner brings back the main piano theme;
slightly elevated in volume and vigor and accompanied by cello,
string-section and synths - concluding this fairly lifeless score. LIFE
BEFORE HER EYES ends up fitting along side Horner's more somber efforts,
but is devoid of a strong personality when compared to most of them. After
the evocative HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG and surprisingly interesting THE
SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, LIFE BEFORE HER EYES is a disappointment.
Rating: 4/10
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Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
An Ordinary Day |
3:54 |
*** |
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2 |
Diana - A
Future to
Be? |
4:55 |
** |
|
3 |
Becoming
Close
Friends |
3:32 |
*** |
|
4 |
All
the
Memories
from
an
Old
Photo
Album |
4:06 |
** |
|
5 |
The
Gift
of a
Necklace |
3:59 |
*** |
| 6 |
Choose! Time to Decide |
3:31 |
** |
| 7 |
Diana Gets Hit By a Car |
3:45 |
** |
| 8 |
Two Live Slowly Converging |
4:35 |
** |
| 9 |
Diana's Young Conscience is Finally Formed |
3:44 |
** |
| 10 |
The Memorial - The Laying of Flowers |
2:31 |
** |
| 11 |
Two Worlds; The Past and the Future |
2:51 |
** |
| 12 |
Young Diana's Future - A Future that Could Have Been? |
12:15 |
*** |
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Total Running Time (approx) |
54 minutes |
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