8MM

MYCHAEL DANNA

Rating:

Original Review by Jonathan Broxton: 8MM, released in the UK by Silva Screen under licence from Compass III, is one of those frustrating film scores which fans will either love or hate. A dark, brooding thriller, 8MM takes the viewer on an increasingly disturbing journey into the seedy setting of Los Angeles' world of underground pornography. Nicolas Cage stars as a private detective hired by a wealthy widow to find out whether the 8mm film she found amongst her husband's possession is genuine, for it seems that the film depicts the torture and murder of a young woman at the hands of a sadistic leather-masked man.

Canadian composer Mychael Danna is making his first foray into mainstream Hollywood with this score, and it is encouraging to see that he has not abandoned, or been forced to abandon, the unique musical style he has developed over the years with directors Atom Egoyan and Ang Lee on films such as Exotica and The Ice Storm. In the film, Danna's score was the emotional core of the movie, and effectively generated the sense of unease the haphazard direction from Joel Schumacher and the contrived and one-dimensional screenplay could not muster. Danna achieved this by taking musical influences from the exotic East - in this case Morocco - and applying them to the modern setting, thereby creating an ominous, threatening mystique that surrounds the fetish world Cage finds himself in. This has the culminative effect of illustrating something which is undeniably integrated into American society, but which is still very alien - much like the ethnic group the music itself originates from.

Tracks such as the haunting 'Missing Persons', the hypnotic 'Hollywood', with its muezzin-like vocals and driving rock beat, and the turbulent 'Dance With The Devil', 'No Answer' and 'Scene of the Crime' are especially effective in this context. Another interesting development is the fact that the score is not as minimalist and microtonal as some of Danna's previous works. Many times during the score, Danna's orchestra sounds large and impressive, especially during the action sequences ('Loft', 'Machine', 'Rainstorm') when the music is augmented by a pulse-pounding synth accompaniment. In addition, Danna has composed an attractive, plaintive piano and woodwind theme to depict the loneliness and increased desperation of Cage's character, something which can be heard most effectively in cues such as 'The Call', 'What Would You Choose' and the conclusive 'Home' and 'Dear Mr. Wells'.

I can see where some less adventurous film score fans would cringe at sitting and listening to long periods of orchestral and electronic dissonance punctuated by cues of Arabic wailing, but personally I find this score totally fascinating and engrossing. I don't know why. Despite its obvious shortcomings, I actually enjoyed the film as well, and the score makes for a refreshingly different film score experience.

Track Listing: Running Time: 50 minutes 11 seconds

Silva Screen FILMCD-313 (1999)

Music composed by Mychael Danna. Conducted and orchestrated by Nicholas Dodd. Moroccan music consultants Younes Megri and Nesrate Mohamed. Recorded and mixed by Brad Haehnel. Edited by Tom Milano. Mastered by Dave Collins. Album produced by Mychael Danna.

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