|
“RATATOUILLE's soundtrack is more like the dish
it's named after, "a peasant's dish," mixed, quaint and satisfying,
than it is a 12-course, gourmet feast.”
|
 Giacchino
Stirs Things Up
Review by Christopher
Coleman
I have to admit it.
Prior to Walt Disney/Pixar's
release of their 2007,
3-D animated feature
film, I had no idea of
what the word was or
how to spell it. After
their subtly enticing
marketing plan for the
film, which inevitably
got me into a theater
filled with more "big
kids" than little
ones, I have become
quite clear on what
RATATOUILLE is and, as
you see, can spell it.
Director Brad Bird's
latest effort, after
the surprisingly good
IRON GIANT (1999) and
then, put simply,
Pixar's best feature
to date, THE
INCREDIBLES (2004), is
a charming flick that,
for the most part, met
my expectations.
Decent story,
interesting
characters, and
cutting edge 3-D
animation are Pixar's
staples and
RATATOUILLE delivers
on all three fronts.
Thankfully, but with
much respect, Pixar
didn't dip into the
Randy-Newman-bag again
and instead wisely
chose composer MICHAEL
GIACCHINO to provide
the musical
ingredients this time
'round.
How much one
appreciates
Giacchino's work here
will greatly depend on
the context in which
the score is heard. In
terms of the in-film
experience, Michael
Giacchino's score
works perfectly. He
once again
demonstrates that
there is a deep well
of talent from which
he seems to drawn upon
project after project.
The composer himself
has admitted that
RATATOUILLE was one of
his biggest challenges
to date. The film
delivers some
interesting
ingredients that, if
not mixed with the
right "yeast" of
score, would have
ended up...well, flat.
Let's look at some of
those ingredients for
a second. RATATOUILLE
is one of Pixar's most
"adult" films and
while there are
slapstick-laughs for
the kiddies, they
aren't as numerous as
one might anticipate.
Instead, the dialogue
and character
idiosyncracies
provide the bulk of
the laughs - laughs
which are above most
young one's little
heads. The setting is
an
idealized-modern-day-France.
The subject is cooking
and food...in France.
The protaganist is a
rat who just wants to
cook good food. Now
what would be so
challenging about
writing a score for
that?
Well, Michael
Giacchino meets the
challenge head-on.
With only a handful of
months to finish the
score, Giacchino's
collaboration with
director Brad Bird
results in an equally
interesting fusion of
various jazz forms,
orchestral romps a la
the great cartoon era
of the 40's, 50's and
60's. Of course
abiding over the
entire feel of the
music is a distinctly
European texture that
seldom mashes the
listener over the head
with pretension.
Within the context of
the film, the score
works almost as
brilliantly as his
big-band-jazz-score
for THE INCREDIBLES.
RATATOUILLE is a much
more intimate film and
hence the score is
more intimate than the
aforementioned Pixar
master-animation.
There are many, subtle
themes created for the
the array of rat and
human characters that
populate the story,
but Giacchino's
employment of those
themes is done with
"dashes" and "dollops"
rather than
"all-you-can-stand-portions"
found in other
animated feature
films. Instead,
Giacchino allows the
themes, and score as a
whole, to build over
the course of the
film. By the rolling
of the end credits,
one first realizes
just how engaged they
were by the musical
element
Now, outside of the
film, RATATOUILLE's
music suffers -
especially if one has
not bothered to see
the film first.
Without the context of
the story and
characters, the score,
while a
pleasant-enough
listen, may seem a bit
thin. RATATOUILLE's
understated nature,
proving to be a
strength within the
film, might be heard
as a weakness on CD.
While French singer
CAMILLE (Camille
Dalmais) grabs the
listener's attention
right at the onset of
the CD with the track,
"Le Festin," for those
who haven't seen the
film, the charm of
Giacchino's score
might dwindle as the
middle tracks play
through. The patient
listener; however, is
duly rewarded as the
soundtrack concludes.
While RATATOUILLE
isn't Pixar's all-time
best - the film or the
score - it is
certainly up there,
especially for adults.
Michael Giacchino's
score does its job
wonderfully and rating
the score in that
context, it would
receive an 8/10.
As an stand-alone
listening experience,
RATATOUILLE is great
music if you plan a
zany, little picnic in
a secluded meadow. No
doubt, it is an
interesting listen and
showcases the wisdom
of Brad Bird and the
diversity of Michael
Giacchino. Still,
RATATOUILLE's
soundtrack is more
like the dish it's
named after, "a
peasant's dish,"
mixed, quaint and
satisfying, than
it is a 12-course,
gourmet feast.
Rating:
7/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Le Festin |
2:50 |
*** |
|
2 |
Welcome to
Gusteau's |
0:38 |
*** |
|
3 |
This is
Me |
1:41 |
*** |
|
4 |
Granny
Get
Your
Gun |
2:01 |
**** |
|
5 |
100
Rat
Dash |
1:47 |
**** |
| 6 |
Wall Rat |
2:41 |
*** |
| 7 |
Cast of Cooks |
1:41 |
*** |
| 8 |
A Real Gourmet Kitchen |
4:18 |
**** |
| 9 |
Souped Up |
0:50 |
*** |
| 10 |
Is it Soup Yet? |
1:16 |
*** |
| 11 |
A New Deal |
1:56 |
*** |
| 12 |
Remy Drives a Linguini |
2:26 |
*** |
| 13 |
Colette Shows Him Le Ropes |
2:56 |
*** |
| 14 |
Special Order |
1:58 |
**** |
| 15 |
Kiss & Vinegar |
1:58 |
**** |
| 16 |
Losing Control |
1:54 |
*** |
| 17 |
Heist to See You |
1:45 |
*** |
| 18 |
The Paper Chase |
1:44 |
*** |
| 19 |
Remy's Revenge |
3:24 |
*** |
| 20 |
Abandoning Ship |
2:55 |
**** |
| 21 |
Dinner Rush |
5:00 |
**** |
| 22 |
Anyone Can Cook |
3:13 |
**** |
| 23 |
End Creditouilles |
9:16 |
**** |
| 24 |
Ratatouille Main Theme |
2:09 |
*** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
62 minutes |
|
|
