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“The score ranges
from the very soothing and beautiful to epic blasts of bold, "Goldenthalian"
creations. While the movie may be a little elusive in quantifying,
ILAN ESHKERI's score is not. It is simply one of 2007's most
entertaining listens - start to finish.”
|
 Just
the Other Side of the
Wall
Review by Christopher
Coleman
As the summer of 2007
tails away, director Matthew Vaughn
(Layer Cake) brings
Neil Gaiman's graphic
novel, STARDUST, to
the big screen.
With a stellar-cast such
as: Claire
Danes, Robert DeNiro,
Michelle Pfieffer,
Peter O' Toole, and
the narration of Sir
Ian McKellen, the film
would seem to be in
good hands in that
department.
Bringing on composer
Ilan Eshkeri was also
a promising move.
Although his engaging
score was poorly
represented on the
DARK KINGDOM: THE
DRAGON KING
soundtrack, what was
evident in the two
tracks that did find
their way onto that
release was that
Eshkeri could do
fantasy.
STARDUST would afford
him the perfect
opportunity stretch
his legs more fully.
STARDUST is an
interesting film -
dubbed an
adult-romantic-fantasy.
It has drawn
comparisons to Rob
Reiner's classic THE
PRINCESS BRIDE, but
such comparison's are
misplaced. Vaughn's
movie does tell its
fairy-tale story with
subtle wink, but it
doesn't approach
clever and classic
humor of THE PRINCESS
BRIDE. On the
other side of things,
STARDUST has its
moments, but certainly
doesn't take itself as
seriously as many
fantasy films do.
This film is just a
hard film to
qualify...which makes
the movie experience a
little awkward while
remaining enjoyable.
Further confusing the
issue of
categorization is
STARDUST's sumptuously
serious score.
ILAN ESHKERI wastes
little time in hinting
at his musicscape for
STARDUST. "The
Prologue (Through the
Wall)" tells the
listener that we are
dealing with faerie
story here. Subtle,
ethereal voices give
way to slowly swelling
strings and brass
which finally yield to
a bit of comedic
pizzicato. The opening
track concludes with a
surprisingly rhythmic
section representing
our first visit into
the other-worldly
kingdom of Stormhold.
Moving onward from
track 1, the music
becomes soft and
romantic. First
we have "Snowdrop" (2)
- an initially quiet
and melodic piece with
an undercurrent of
mystery.
Following this we have
our hero's theme
briefly introduced in
"Tristan" (3).
Tristan's theme
doubles as the film's
main love theme and is
performed most
poignantly in "Tristan
and Yvaine" (13).
As we reach track 4,
"Shooting Star"
Eshkeri now lets loose
a torrent of
orchestral flare.
Strings sing, horns
blare, and the choir
adds their heavenly
accent to one of the
most rapturous pieces
of this or any other
soundtracks from the
first half of 2007.
And if that's the
stuff you like, there
is more. You'll
find similar moments
worth a few successive
listens to be "Septimus"
(7), and "The Star
Shines" (19).
Following "Shooting
Star," we are
introduced to the
story's antagonists -
the three witches,
lead by Lamia
(Michelle Pfieffer).
The three are in
search of the fallen
star that will ensure
their youth for
another few centuries.
The musical
representation of
Lamia and crew is
distinctively marked
by low strings,
percussive accents,
and even a bassoon
lead. As Lamia and her
support team get an
ample amount of
screentime,
soundtrack offers a
healthy number of
tracks for our
malevolent characters:
"Three Witches" (5),
"Creating the Inn"
(8), "Lamia's Inn" (9)
and "Lamia's Doll."
One of the most
entertaining bits of
the movie is Robert
DeNiro's character of
Cap'n Shakespear.
He and his flying
airship crew are fit
with their own theme
which captures the
essence of their
harrowing profession
of harvesting lighting
by flying among the
thunder storms.
While at first being
given a threatening
introduction in "Cap
'N Shakespear" the
captain and his motley
crew's music takes on
a more "delicate"
nature as "another
side" of the brazen
captain is revealed.
In "Flying Vessel" we
have a bit of
evocative music that
has already become
trailer-material.
And Eshkeri mixes in a
bit of Dvorak and
Offenbach as Tristan
and Yvaine are
enter-trained by Cap'N
Shakespear aboard his
ship.
STARDUST comes to a
rousing conclusion
with the percussive
"Zombie Fight" (18)
and then the climactic
piece "The Star
Shines" (19).
The majority of "The
Star Shines" is
tensely dark, but it
finishes with a full
symphonic blast of
Yvaine's theme.
"Coronation" (20)
gives us a nice recap
of STARDUST's major
themes and ends
Eshkeri's effort on a
satisfying and
triumphant note.
Much ado has been made
about the group TAKE
THAT's song "Rule the
World" not appearing
on the soundtrack.
For the score fan,
this will not be a
problem at all.
(For once those who
get their compilation
soundtracks months
before score albums
are released (if at
all) can get a taste
of what the score
community feels.)
Still, "Epilogue" (21)
is Eshkeri's own
arrangement of the
Take That's
composition and their
own performance of the
piece will appear on
their album releasing
sometime in October
2007.
Ilan Eshkeri delivers
some very entertaining
music for STARDUST.
With clearly defined
themes and motifs and
the big, bold
performance of THE
LONDON METROPOLITAN
ORCHESTRA, the score,
although occasionally
overpowering some
scenes, is one of the
films high points. As
a stand alone
listening experience,
STARDUST does even
better. The score
ranges from the very
soothing and beautiful
to epic blasts of
bold, "Goldenthalian"
creations. While the
movie may be a little
elusive in
quantifying, ILAN
ESHKERI's score is
not. It is simply one
of 2007's most
entertaining listens -
start to finish.
The best compliment of
ILAN ESHKERI's work
for STARDUST may
ultimately come when
it is used as score
for some of the many
fantasy/fairy-tale
films that will across
our screens in the
years to come.
Interestingly, Decca
opted to release the
full soundtrack on
iTunes weeks before
the official
soundtrack CD would be
available. Now
trust me when I say
that this music
deserves to be
listened to in much
higher fidelity than
Apple's little
proprietary format can
deliver (not to
mention the abysmal,
low-quality rips and
re-rips floating
around the net.
The dynamic range in
this (and many other
scores) is just not
well served by iTunes
or any compressed
format. It's
certainly
understandable if you
couldn't wait for the
CD release, but do
yourself a favor and
pick up the CD anyway.
Rating: 8/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Prologue
(Through the
Wall) |
3:45 |
***** |
|
2 |
Snowdrop |
2:46 |
**** |
|
3 |
Tristan |
0:40 |
**** |
|
4 |
Shooting
Star |
3:26 |
***** |
|
5 |
Three
Witches |
2:42 |
*** |
| 6 |
Yvaine |
2:48 |
*** |
| 7 |
Septimus |
1:22 |
**** |
| 8 |
Creating the Inn |
1:58 |
**** |
| 9 |
Lamia's Inn |
8:04 |
*** |
| 10 |
Cap'n' Shakespeare |
1:27 |
**** |
| 11 |
Flying Vessel |
3:41 |
**** |
| 12 |
Cap'n' at the Helm |
1:01 |
**** |
| 13 |
Tristan & Yvaine |
2:05 |
***** |
| 14 |
Pirate Fight |
2:03 |
*** |
| 15 |
The Mouse |
2:25 |
*** |
| 16 |
Lamia's Lair |
3:57 |
**** |
| 17 |
Lamia's Doll |
1:41 |
*** |
| 18 |
Zombie Fight |
1:08 |
*** |
| 19 |
The Star Shines |
3:21 |
*** |
| 20 |
Coronation |
2:32 |
**** |
| 21 |
Epilogue |
0:52 |
**** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
53 minutes |
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