This is another entry in my Complete Score Breakdown Series, focusing on the complete scores to films that have had abbreviated previous releases or have gone unreleased.
Today we are looking at The Interpreter (2005) by James Newton Howard.
James Newton Howard’s fantastic score for 2005’s The Interpreter is what I refer to as an LJS – a Lonely James Score. A JNH score that I absolutely love that I never, ever hear anyone talk about – and it makes me feel so alone. (other members in this distinguished LJS Club include Freedomland, Dreamcatcher, The Lookout, A Perfect Murder) Anyway, I digress. I really enjoy his score for The Interpreter, a orchestral/synth thriller score with ethnic flourishes (a la Blood Diamond) and an abundance of exciting action and suspense cues highlighted with an abundance of propulsive electronics.
The score on CD, at 45 minutes long, is a decent representation of the film’s score. The actual complete score, however, is a revelation, a multilayered thriller score with moments of true pathos and delicacy, interesting African vocal use, and tons of excellent action and suspense music on a grand scale. “Zuwanie Arrives at U.N.” (found on the CD) gives an idea what the score has to offer in the action and suspense arena, but the complete score expands this material to give a more cohesive thematic action idea unity, not just some rhythmic and fast-paced expert compositions. There really is a lot to the score and is one of the occasions (as is often the situation with Howard) where an expanded score really shines illuminating light on just how much depth, range, and accomplishment the score really provides – do not be fooled by the mere CD runtime.
In the case of The Interpreter, the complete score runs just under 76 minutes and is generously scored but very well-balanced in its content. The resulting amount of missing score is 31 minutes, and it is some really, really great stuff. Particularly some phenomenal action material – the unreleased action/suspense cue prior to the CD track “Guy Forgot His Lunch” is 6 minutes of tension-building top-of-the-line thriller music that Howard does best and contains variations on the later Zuwanie Arrival music. This action music connection helps develop more unity among the overall cues resulting in a more satisfying complete score. There are a lot of wonderful more thoughtful and contemplative cues for scenes where Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman’s characters return to their respective homes or sort through their personal lives and are scores with great sensitivity. One cue in particular, “Comfort”, plays during the scene where Penn holds Kidman in his arms after her near-death experience aboard the bus explosion in quiet silence and Howard musically conveys the non-romantic connection of him just being there for her, underlining their developing friendship.
Another interesting cue is what I call “Assassination Anticipation” where, in the film, Kidman’s character plays a flute melody that is actually a part of the Howard cue that is also playing at the same time. It is cool how the character’s performance and the score blend together in this quasi-ethnic piece and I’m very surprised it was left off the original CD.
The final several cues play as one long 23-minute cue, all flowing into each other, but I have broken them up (for the most part) in the Complete Score Cue Titles section to delineate CD tracks. However, I did leave the penultimate 12-minute cue in its apparent entirety as it plays in the film, and it is an enormous musical journey that explores countless emotions and tones in its runtime.
I strongly and pleadingly hope that Varese Sarabande expands this CD one day, and I think a lot of people will be very surprised at just how much more to the score there actually is, and how much of a wonderful work it turns out to be…but then again, it may just be a LJS.
CURRENT CD RELEASE RUNTIME: 45min 00sec COMPLETE SCORE RUNTIME: 75min 55sec
UNRELEASED SCORE RUNTIME: 30min 55sec
Complete Score Cue Titles and Cue Times (unreleased cues named by me for the sake of identification):
+ – previously unreleased (or includes previously unreleased material)
1. Matobo (8:10) 2. Voices in the Dark (1:02) + 3. Voicemail / Email (0:42) + 4. Bumper to Bumper (1:00) + 5. Tell Him Yourself (1:27) + 6. Silvia’s Background (1:06) 7. Zuwanie Report (0:46) + 8. Paranoid Call (0:53) + 9. Silvia is Followed (1:15) 10. Tobin Comes Home (2:11) 11. Lie Detector (0:30) + 12. Shaping the Investigation (0:57) + 13. To Mexico (1:10) + 14. Drowning Man Trial (Atolago) (1:48) 15. Assassination Anticipation (2:08) + 16. Punishment (0:45) + 17. Searching (0:52) + 18. Park Rendezvous (1:53) + 19. Phillipe (1:25) 20. Photos (0:53) + 21. The Phone Call (0:50) 22. Kuman (6:12) + 23. Guy Left His Lunch (3:21) 24. Ride Home (0:25) + 25. Comfort (1:52) + 26. Did He Leave a Note? (3:47) 27. Simon’s Journals (2:43) 28. Silvia Showers (2:48) 29. It’s Too Late (0:52) + 30. Zuwanie Arrival at U.N. (5:52) 31. Assassin (4:10) 32. She’s Here / Atonement (12:10) + 33. End Credits (Atolago) (4:11)
Current CD Release Track Titles and Track Times:
1. Matobo (8:22) 2. Silvia Is Followed (1:25) 3. Tobin Comes Home (2:18) 4. Silvia’s Background (1:06) 5. Phillipe (1:29) 6. Drowning Man Trial (Atolago) (1:48) 7. Guy Forgot His Lunch (3:04) 8. The Phone Call (1:12) 9. Simon’s Journals (3:06) 10. Silvia Showers (2:53) 11. Did He Leave a Note? (3:58) 12. Zuwanie Arrival at U.N. (6:01) 13. Assassin (4:14) 14. End Credits (Atolago) (4:11)
(other members in this distinguished LJS Club include Freedomland, Dreamcatcher, The Lookout, A Perfect Murder) Anyway, I digress. I really enjoy his score for The Interpreter, a orchestral/synth thriller score with ethnic flourishes (a la Blood Diamond) and an abundance of exciting action and suspense cues highlighted with an abundance of propulsive electronics.