There Will Be Blood (Soundtrack)

[claysf]

I hope this post isn't considered off-topic. But I saw this film yesterday and my gosh, it's well done. I recommend it to everyone --IMO it's an achievement on the level of Citizen Kane. But especially for the purposes of this forum, take note of the astonishing soundtrack, scored for chamber and solo strings. To call it 'haunting' is to sell it short. The music becomes, almost literally, one of the principal characters in the story, or anyway an element equal in power to the preternatural performances of Daniel Day Lewis and Paul Dano. In some movies with such intense music, the score can overpower the storytelling. It's part of this movie's genius that the musical and narrative elements complement each other throughout, creating a cumulative audience experience that's very rare in contemporary American film. The themes, musical and narrative, are dark and disturbing: hate-filled capitalist petro-lust locked in a co-dependent death-struggle with religious hypocracy. And we, all of us who own a car or heat our homes or use electric power, are exposed as complicit.

But so much for thumbnail movie & environmental critiqueing. I urge all of you interested in string composition to lend an attentive ear to this potent score by Johnny Greenwood.

[Thomas J]

I saw this movie a couple of days and agree that this is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen. The soundtrack is very unique and original in that it doesn't fit the usual "Hollywood" sound model. Now I know why Daniel Day Lewis only makes 1 movie every five or six years - to say that he puts his entire being and soul in the role is an understatement.

[talisman]

I was intrigued enough to do a little bit a research about this score but contrary to the opinion of the OP, I didn't find it effective. IMO it was a little bit cliche actually. The opening scene with the string glissandos, was for my taste over the top. It almost sounded like avant-garde pop. The score was totally inorganic. I'm not saying that they should have played honky-tonk from beginning to end, but I got the impression that Johnny was composing whatever he wanted regardless of the context. A lot of the music was good but I found it to be somewhat distracting. Good though movie though, Daniel Day Lewis is one of the best (along with Gary Oldman).

John

[danpowers]

It hasn't come to Terre Haute yet, but will probably be here in a few weeks. It's high on my must-see list.