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Posted: |
Aug 19, 2009 - 7:50 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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There wasn't a good previous thread on this Oscar-winning score, for some reason.
I thought the film certainly had its strengths, but was a little drawn out and - to be blunt - a bit boring.
But I loved all those trademark Taymour effects, such as the painting metamorphosing into life (life imitates art or vice versa) or the various allusions, such as Rivera replacing King Kong or the CGI scene after the bus accident.
I really had problems sympathizing with Alfred Molina's Diego Rivera, however, to the extent that it annoyed me throughout the film. I never managed to care for him, even when I was obviously supposed to. I don't know if that was intended or not. Salma Hayek fared better, but I still feel something was "missing" from her performance. Can't really put my finger on it. In fact, there was something very distant about everyone, including Geoffrey Rush's Leon Trotsky.
But Goldenthal's score was excellent. The highlights were the music for Frida's daydreaming or her artistic endeavours. Soft, hispanic guitar plucking with traditional percussion and some subtle contemporary string harmonies. It also merged very well with all the various source cues of Mexican folk songs, some even performed by Hayek herself.
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It's a great score - the kind you forget is actually original because it melds so perfectly with the songs, which are also great. (And it's so great that the booklet gives translations of the lyrics. They're often quite insightful.)
Goldenthal adapts his theme to be by turns urgent, vibrant, romantic and mournful, and it works beautifully in all instances AND the CD works as a terrific stand-alone listening experience.
It's a close runner-up as best of 2002 for me, however, to Hisaishi's SPIRITED AWAY. (Not that a score has to be the best of its year to be great. I think 2002 was a really strong year for original scores: THE TWO TOWERS, ROAD TO PERDITION, FAR FROM HEAVEN, TALK TO HER, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE...the list goes on.)
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As Mark Ford said, this is a rare situation where the score and songs form a cohesive whole. They're woven of the same fabric, and one can't exist without the other. In most cases the songs would have disqualified the score from Oscar consideration, but for the reasons I've mentioned I'm glad the Academy recognised Goldenthal's work. I do wish that Bernstein had won the Oscar, but Goldenthal was certainly a deserving winner.
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Posted: |
Oct 13, 2017 - 6:14 PM
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By: |
daretodream
(Member)
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In response to Mr. Marshall's question - according to Peter Biskind’s book Down and Dirty Pictures, the occasion was a test screening of Julie Taymor’s film Frida at the Lincoln Square Theater at 68th and Broadway. The film tested well. Standing in the lobby after the audience had filed out, Weinstein asked Taymor what she thought of the audience’s response. “They enjoyed the movie,” Taymor said. “The film succeeded.”
This, apparently, was not the response Weinstein was looking for. “You are the most arrogant person I have ever met!” Weinstein screamed, spittle flying out of his mouth. “Go market the fucking film yourself!” Weinstein turned to Taymor’s agent, Bart Walker, and told him to “get the fuck out of here.” He then turned to Taymor’s companion, Elliott Goldenthal. “I don’t like the look on your face. Why don’t you defend your wife, so I can beat the shit out of you.” Finally, he turned to a group of Miramax executives and picked them off, one by one. “You’re fired. You’re fired. You’re fired. You’re fired.”
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